Up In the Air
by ElisabethDarling
Summary: The origins of Aang, his parents and the story of them. Two young air nomads find themselves drawn to one another...no matter how stuck up, immature, or aggravating they really find each other.
1. Chapter 1

An Air Nomad does not do attachments. They are free like the wind is free; they value their spirits over their physical bodies because spirits are eternal. A body will decay, water evaporates, fire extinguishes, and earth crumbles; but the air—the air and the wind flow continuously, powerfully, and undoubtedly across both land and sea. Through the intense heat of barren deserts, over white artic lands, following cool ocean currents, creating sounds in the forest; air is limitless and expansive, air is exhilarating, air is impartial—air is free.

Aureole had always been a very serious girl. She loved sense and order; her trains of thought were always on track. Her bending was affected by this; she was continuously perfect in her form and stance, but her air bending lacked certain potency. She would watch as the other air nuns effortlessly glided in the air, they danced with the wind; for all of Aureole's discipline she only ever has awkward conversations with it.

"Have you ever tried smiling?" Ling lightly suggested to Aureole as she watched her struggling with an air technique. Ling was an air bending master, her hair was shaved back to show her arrow.

"Why would I smile while I'm failing, it wouldn't portray the correct emotion, I'm not happy, I'm frustrated." She grumbled, putting her feet back into the correct position before taking a deep breath and trying to regain her focus. This only made Ling laugh.

"I have never encountered such a serious child. Perhaps you should look to the wind for inspiration." There she goes again, speaking in riddles, this being a more obvious riddle, but still. Understanding that Ling wished to speak to her and she should listen and maybe gain wisdom to solve her problem, Aureole gave her teacher a defeated look and slumped to the floor.

"I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong Sister Ling..."

"Well...you're kind of a stick in the mud." She said laughing loudly at her own joke at her.

"I am not!" Aureole pouted, stomping her foot and kicking up the mud from the damp dirt below her feet. This only made Sister Ling's grin wider.

"Let go of your frustration, child. You will see yourself improving in your skills if you would just relax, don't let the air get to your head."

"I can't relax, I'll become lazy."

"Try meditation more often," The sister's advice was offered easily, "It will clear your mind and allow you to become more attentive."

"...Lately I haven't been able to meditate," Aureole cringed, "I had a nightmare a few days ago, rabid sky lemurs clawed out my eyes, and I've been having paranoid delusions of them hiding behind rocks waiting for me to be caught off guard."

"How disturbing and strange. Your eyes are rather large and shiny; perhaps they thought you had fruit on your face." Ling said in passing, like commenting on the weather, before she came beside her student and tried to correct her sloppy stance.

"Now, close your eyes and attempt your steps again, only this time keep your movements circular and loose, and keep your knees bent."

Aureole's teacher was the closest thing that she had to a mother...well, a family in general.

The air nation wasn't really a nation at all. There were four temples, two house men and two house women. Children were raised by the community, not a mother and father. Most parents kept their children until they were four or five and then left them to the monks and nuns that lived year-round at the temples to train with the other air benders and learn the ways of the nomads. But some children were given up earlier and didn't know of their parents; some parents would make a point to visit their own children and form some sort of relationship...it really depended on the people. It never seemed to bother any of the other monks or nuns, not that Aureole could see.

But it bothered her. She longed for something she could never really have...she longed for a family. Sister Ling was the closest she would ever get. Having children amongst the monks and sisters was a strangely uncomplicated matter.

Love is acceptable, love is beautiful, and it makes the universe a wonderful place. But attachment is different, being an air nomad is about being spiritually enlightened, and if your spirit is bound to the physical plane of existence then it is not free to be a part of a metaphysical spirit world. And so love becomes detached, love no one person above another, let love help to free your spirit, not render it bound to another. So families are communal, it takes a temple to raise a child and there is never a lack of love or attention. Being good natured is part of the air nomad persona; air can be forceful and destructive, but for the most part it just flows.

For Aureole attachment had been a problem, because she became attached so easily. As a child, she would go on outings with the other children and they were taken to see villages of the Earth Kingdom because it was so near to their island. She saw families. A mother and father smiling and laughing with their children, they all seemed so bound to each other; they gravitated towards their mother and father. It was like the whole world disappeared for them and all they could see was their family. She thought it was beautiful, she wanted that. To be special to someone, to belong to someone's heart, she yearned for a family that was her own.

"Pay attention, Aureole!" Ling said sharply enough to cause Aureole to jump. Snapping out of her thoughts she began her smooth movements; she felt the air surge from around her and concentrate between her palms and the energy was exhilarating, the unity she felt with the wind brought her inner peace. She breathed in the energy and slowly let out her breath as she began to form the wind into a ring around her body and then surging her fist forward to push the powerful wind in to a dart of air that cut through the trees of the forest that grew at the base of the mountain where the Eastern Air Temple was.

Seeing that she had actually accomplished flawlessly what she had been so desperately trying to do for what felt like weeks now Aureole let of a squeal of delight, bouncing off the ground in a surge of air, clapping her hands,

"Weeee! Yes! That was awesome! Did you see that, sister?! The air was like,'shuuuuuu', and I was like 'whoooosh,' and then the trees were like 'craaack,' and, ahhh, it was just brilliant." She continued to giggle in her moment of unrestrained excitement. As Sister Ling began to congratulate her exuberant student, a rustle came from the bushes and an orange robed girl of twelve came tumbling out followed by her similarly dressed counterpart.

"Oh, wow, is that Aureole? Showing an emotion other than apathy out in the public? With witnesses?" Dechen was a young air bender who had taken a liking to Aureole, often thinking of her as an older sister that she enjoyed bothering. But where ever Dechen went her partner in crime Lhe-mi was sure to follow. Both girls grinned sheepishly down at the two practicing women and gently flew down, bowing respectfully towards Sister Ling and jumping happily on Aureole, throwing off her balance.

"Alright, alright, enough with the touching and the hugging." Aureole began pushing the girls off of her and her serious attitude came back in full force.

"But we're just so happy to see you happy, Aurie!" Lhe-mi bounced in place, using up whatever natural energy that seemed to keep hyperactive children in trouble.

"Yeah, usually you're either..ermm blank face, serious face, or bossy face. Happy face is a rare occasion." Dechen and Lhe-mi nodded seriously in sync.

"I'm happy." Aureole said sharply, "I'm always happy." She finished with a frown. One of Aureole's biggest problems was that she took herself entirely too seriously. She was the stick in the mud; her problem with becoming attached to people easily as a child led her to distance herself from people as she grew older. Aureole was pleasant enough to be around, but many of her peers found her oddly obsessive compulsive and a bit of a brat. She had an obscure sense of order and an neurotic need to control the actions of people around her. She often wondered why the spirits chose her to be born an air bender...air is the element of freedom and she was far from free.

"The sun is setting, children. Perhaps you should speak to pessimistic Pema of her behavior in the safety of the temple."

The girls followed sister Ling up the side of the mountain and parted ways to the room that Aureole shared with Dechan, Lhe-mi, and a few other girls her age.

"Ya know what's kinda funny?" Dechan smiled up at Aureole.

"What?" Aureole frowned?

"When you talk to other people." Lhe-mi said giggling.

"W-what?"

"Yeah," Dechan continued, "You're just so uncomfortable and awkward."

"And you stutter!"

"I, ju-, I do not!" Aureole defended indignantly.

"Whoa, someone's defensive." Dechan spun around with her hands behind her back, walking backwards and facing Aureole. "You're very pretty."

Turning bright red at the compliment from flattery, embarrassment, and anger Aureole drew her lips into a straight line,

"Go piss off a sky bison!" This only caused the two girls to fall over themselves laughing. They ran after their annoyed friend gleefully excited to cause her to become more frustrated.

"Wait, don't leave before we get you really angry!" Lhe-mi called after the older girl who had begun to storm away.

"Aren't you two little monsters supposed to respect your elders?" Aureole muttered darkly. Getting into her room just couldn't seem to happen soon enough.

"You're only five years older than we are." Dechan said as she caught up.

"That's still five years, air head. It constitutes as older."

"Whao-ho-ho then, our sincerest apologies elder Aurie." Lhe-mi bowed.

"Yes, your beauty and fortitude blind us and lead us to act foolishly!" Dechan exaggerated in fain dramatic sorrow. Aurie attempted to continue frowning, but it was too much for her and she cracked a smile.

"Foolish mortals, bow down to my infinite and vast knowledge." She finished forebodingly. Her lack of sleep and harsh weeks of training had been catching up with her and Aureole could not help but to feel drained a lethargic. As the three girls entered their rooms Aureole decided to skip food and go straight to bed, relaxing into her cool sheets and pillowed mat and she drifted into dark dreams that had been haunting her as of late.

* * *

She was in her dream, she was sure of it. Aureole was floating in a blue glowing dome. It was cold and time seemed to have no power or prominence, just the enigma of the glowing blue light and cold air that never seemed to settle into her skin. But outside of the ice she could tell the world was burning, the sensitive balance of the elements was altered and there was no wind or rain, only scorched earth outside of the safety of the dome.

She brought her hands to her face and she could see the tattoos of an air bending master on them and an excited feeling bubbled into her stomach, it was her ultimate goal to be an air master, but her tattoos were glowing white, it was unnerving. Not only because of the unnatural glow, but because her hands were not her own...they were a young boys, she lifted her face up to see her reflection from the shining ice but a loud noise erupted from outside and the dome was cracked and her face was indistinguishable.

Aurie woke with a start as her two _favorite _sisters bounded into her room jumping up and down with huge painted across their rosy cheeks. Still in a whirl of emotions from her rather confusing and scary dream, Aureole didn't know whether to hug her friends or knock them over and yell at them, but before she could reach a final decision Dechan let out a rush of words,

"We have visitors!"

"Monk visitors!" Lhe-mi continued.

"From the Southern Temple!"

"They're so handsome!" They gushed together dreamily.

Wiping off the cold sweat from her forehead Aureole cringed at their girlish squeals and quickly pushed her sisters away from her.

"This is why you woke me up screaming? Not because the Temple was burning down or the sky bison's were eating the flying lemurs, you two woke me up screaming because you find objectifying monks based upon their appearance exciting," Her eyes narrowed, "Get out." She said pointing at the door. The girls continued to speak of how cute the monks were, not fazed at all by Aureole's mood, as Aurie got out of bed and gathered her clothing. She headed towards the bathroom, Dechan and Lhe-mi trailing diligently behind her.

"They just got back from coming across the Earth Kingdom, Auire! Isn't that amazing?"

"I wanna travel across the Earth Kingdom." Lhe-mi sighed.

"And the Fire Nation! I wanna see fire bending, that would be so cool!" Dechan became animated, pretending to fire bend with Lhe-mi.

Dark circles cultivated beneath Aureole's eyes as she looked up at her disheveled state. Her light brown hair was pointing in every direction, the length was getting out of control and quite frankly a hindrance to her bending, she begrudgingly thought of cutting it all off and she grabbed a brush and attempted to detangle her hair. Dechan offered to braid it as Aurie washed her face. Two braids at the crown of her head met in the back to create one long braid that swayed behind her as she walked. Her stomach began to rumble.

"My tummy is talking," Aurie poked her midsection, "I need food." She walked past her sisters who wore matching raised eye brows. Silly moments were few and far between for Aureole and as they hopped along after her they hoped to come across one of the better looking monks on their way to the kitchens.

When they arrived at the kitchens the smell of bread and hot tea lingered in the air and Aureole's mouth began to water. She grabbed to rolls of bread and a large cup of banana guava juice and the girls followed close to her as she sat down under a tree outside in a court yard full of monks and sisters. As the girls chattered on about which monk was cutest or whatever it is they spoke about when Aureole wasn't paying attention, Aurie let her mind wander between large bites of bread about what her dreams could mean. She was certain that they couldn't be prophetic...she wasn't an adolescent boy...and she definitely didn't have her arrows yet. Maybe it was telling her that traveling in the Fire Nation would be scary...but being in the south pole would be...safer?

Because she was so lost in thought, Aureole didn't happen to notice that she had caught the attention of a young monk, Meelo, who had come through with his traveling party. He had become one the youngest air benders in the nomad's history to be given the title of Master Air bender, mastering all 35 bending levels by the time he was seventeen. He found himself traveling the world immediately after he had his tattoos, in the past two years he'd been two three of the four great nations (including his own) with his air bison, Kumo.

Meelo had seen many beautiful places and people on his travels; most notably he'd seen beautiful women. The girls in the fire nation were stunning with pale skin, dark hair, and bright eyes, they were confident and nearly all of them could dance for hours. Ladies from the Earth kingdom were much more refined; they kept every hair in place and enjoyed poetry and soft music. Unfortunately no matter how beautiful Earth kingdom girls were, the neutral color pallet of their clothing reflected directly upon their personalities: boring and repetitive. And of course he, the air nomad, women he'd seen were always pretty and care free, but he'd never seen any one more beautiful...breath taking even then the girl with the lost look on her face he saw across the court yard from him.

When he saw her he couldn't help the huge grin that grew on his face, Meelo had never been so entranced by anyone or anything ever before. Noticing his friends attention being drawn away from any conversation, Meelo's traveling companion and dear friend Nawang quirked an eye brow and followed his enchanted friends gaze. Smiling smugly at the object of Meelo's dreamy focus, Nawang poked at his friend,

"I talked to that girl earlier man, she's totally in to me." Meelo snapped out of his day dream and his eyes widened,

"What? Ahh man, no way!"

"Yeah, she's was like '_Oooh, you're so handsome Monk Nawang, please ,it would be my honor to have babies with you! We're soooooul mates!'" _His voice had a raised several octaves to mimic a woman's voice. Looking at his friend incredulously, Meelo playfully glared at Nawang,

"I have this feeling that you're joking around with me, but I know you would never lie."

"It's not in my nature. But pretty girls defiantly are, man, that girl is sooo good looking. She's hotter than that one chick we met from the fire nation, th-"

"The one with annoying laugh?"

"Yeah," Nawang brought his hands above his chest, "and HUGE-"

"Gentelmen," Sister Jamyang interrupted. Nawang immediately dropped his hands and brought them behind his head.

"H-hello Sister, what might we help you with?" Meelo asked pleasantly. The nun narrowed her eyes at the two suspicious looking monks but continued to prattle on cheerily,

"The students here would benefit from a demonstration of your skills and we would be most appreciative of your assessments of some of our more advanced students."

"Oh, really? That would be great, we'd love to." Meelo said quickly, thinking that maybe one of the more advanced students would be the pretty girl from the courtyard. Nawang's eyes rolled in annoyance,

"We would love to?" He commented lowly.

"Wonderful," Said the sister as she began to walk towards a group of laughing children. Meelo quickly called out a question to her and she turned back towards the two monks,

"What was that Monk Meelo?"

"Oh, um, I was just asking about that girl over there under the tree?" The sister peered behind him to where he was pointing and raised an eye brow and smiled,

"There is nothing under the tree, Monk Meelo. Only grass...and air."

"Wait—what?" Turning around and finding that the most beautiful girl in the world had vanished into thin air, "Well, she was there earlier...literally a second ago; I wonder where she went..."

"Or if she even existed," Sister Lang muttered skeptically, "Perhaps she was a trick of the light." She turned to leave again and the group of little girls giggled running towards her all of them speaking at once.

"She really was there! You saw her!" Meelo grabbed his friend and shook him by the shoulders exasperated. Shrugging his shoulders and walking away, Nawang followed after the sister, saying something about feeding his air bison. Left alone to his own devices Meelo decided it was a good time to investigate his mystery girl. His focus had never been so captured before, he felt this fuzzy feeling in his chest and his heart began to flutter, and he couldn't help but smile. He didn't even know her name...heck he hadn't even spoken to the girl, but he had this feeling that he known her before. He pondered for a moment if she even knew that he existed or if she had even seen him in the courtyard—but he quickly disregarded these thoughts because of course she noticed him...he was devilishly good looking and charismatic. And amazing.

He just had to find her, he thought to himself as he walked down one of the temples tall and open hallways. Meelo had always been very proud of what his people could accomplish in the physical realm, the beauty and peace humans could create never ceased to amaze him. Meelo was a man content with his life, he had a bright outlook on his future, and he felt his spirit as light and air as a floating feather. And this girl...this girl that he didn't even know yet made his spirit feel even lighter, he just knew it had to be love at first sight...and he knew she would feel the same way. If only he could find her. Further up the hallway he heard laughing and felt the cooling breezes of manipulated air currents, he saw the two young girls that were with the pretty mystery nun earlier. They both had dark hair and eyes and were currently pushing each other up into the air, pretending to fly.

"Dechaaaaan," The one with long hair whined to the girl in the air with two ponytails, "It's my turn to be in the air!"

"It is not." Dechan giggled from up in the air, Lhe-mi frowned and stomped her foot, cutting off the air current and crossing her arms without thinking. The surprised scream that came from the tumbling girl was enough to scare Meelo into diving up in to the air and catching the child mid-fall. Lhe-mi ran over to see her friend safe and immediately began apologizing,

"Oh my spirits, I am so, so, so, so, so, so, sooooo sorry, Dechan! I didn't mean to do that! I promise I'm not trying to kill you." She was close to tears. Rolling her eyes and patting her sister's head Dechan comforted Lhe-mi,

"It's alright, jeeze. Don't cry about it you baby." She blinked her doe eyes up at the monk who caught her, smiling sweetly, "Besides, at least we had someone to catch me."

"Oh yeah." Lhe-mi followed her sister's actions and they both stared up at Meelo and he laughed sheepishly,

"Oh, well, it was no problem, ladies." He thought the girls were funny and that they must be the students that Sister Lang was talking to him and Nawang about. Recalling his original purpose for seeking them out, he ended the awkward silence between them with an awkward question,

"So, I saw you guys earlier, in the courtyard..." He couldn't exactly get his next words out correctly so he continued to mouth and stumble over could be sentences.

"That's nice..." Lhe-mi said slowly, this monk was cute but not very bright.

"Yeah," Dechan said, thinking along that same lines as Lhe-mi, "Well, thank you for catching me before I fell on the floor and split my head open."

"That would've been gross," Lhe-mi smiled.

"Yeah, but kinda cool. Like 'BOOM' and then 'SMACK' and then blood would everywhere."

"Yeah, but not as cool because I woulda been responsible for killing you and stuff." Meelo nodded in agreement, trying to get back on track with his line of questioning,

"Yeah, totally cool. Anyways, I was wondering—"

"Our names?" Lhe-mi interrupted. Dechan nodded in agreement,

"Yeah because you haven't asked for them yet and we've been having a conversation for a few minutes now, not to mention you caught me from falling to my death."

"It's only manners, you know?" Lhe-mi ended matter-o-factly.

Meelo smacked his forehead and dropped the ponytail girl out of his arms, realizing how difficult getting these to trouble makers to help him at all he decided to just play along,

"Umm, sorry, what are those beautiful names of yours?" He asked enthusiastically.

"This is Dechan."

"And this is Lhe-mi." They pointed respectively at one another.

"And who are you?" They asked at once.

"My name is Monk Meelo, and may I say it is a pleasure to meet the fine young ladies of the Eastern Air Temple." He said winking and the little girls giggled. "So listen, I was wondering if I could ask you guys a couple of questions."

"About what?" Dechan asked.

"Yeah—about whaaaaaat?" Lhe-mi pushed. Meelo decided to speak quickly before he was interrupted again,

"Yeah, well, umm, earlier today, when I saw you, you were with another girl...umm she was older then you...?"Dechan smiled mischievously,

"What about her?"

"Well, I was wondering what her name was?"

"Oh, that's Aur—hmmmf," Lhe-mi's mouth was covered by Dechan's.

"Why do you wanna knowww?" She said in a sing-song voice. Lhe-mi caught on immediately going along in the same fashion,

"Yeeaahhh, why do you wanna know?"

"Well—ermm, she's uhh, I was...asked to help tutor some of the more advanced students and..."

"How do you know she's one of the more advanced students?," Interrupted one of the girls.

"Yeah, you don't even know her name." The other finished.

"Well, I ermm, I mean that I—uh..." Meelo tried to save some face, think of some excuse, all he wanted to know was her name; this was a lot of work.

"You think she's pretty, don't you?" Smiled Lhe-mi.

"W-what? No! I mean—yeah, but that's not—gah." He said as the girls fell to the floor laughing, he turned to walk away, but one the girls grabbed him telling him to wait. They seemed to come over to his side, they told him that his mystery girl's name was Aureole and that she liked to practice at the base of the mountain on the northern side of the temple close by the forest. This brought on a whole new set of intimidating questions, should he go down there and say hello? Or would that be weird? Or should he just happen upon her, help her with her bending...all kinds of bending. At this point he was sitting cross legged in a circle with his two new friends who were giving him advice on how to impress Aureole.

"She loooves surprises." Said Dechan,

"Yeah, totally loves them, so don't be afraid to just jump in on her and say 'Hey.'"

"And she's really a touchy feely person,"

"So don't be afraid to slightly invade her personal space, she has noooo bubble." She has bubbles, Meelo thought, two very nice bubbles...he needed more guy friends. Meelo looked to the two gushing twelve year old girls in front of him and he didn't like the look of cunning mischief he saw twinkling in their large dark eyes.

"Really? You think I should do that?" Said Meelo skeptically.

"Yes."

"Really."

"Go for it."

With a last push from the girls Meelo was lead to a path way that would take him to where Aureole practiced her air bending. She was on her 25th of the 36 levels of bending that air nomads needed to gain her tattoos, which is very impressive given that she was only seventeen. Of course, Meelo couldn't help but think, not nearly as impressive as him. Meelo became one of the youngest air bending master's in nomad history at the age of seventeen and at nineteen he was a well-known, skilled, and traveled air bender. He thought very highly of himself and in turn people tended to think highly of him as well...not that he asked, he sort of just assumed people thought he was wonderful.

He began hearing the wooshing noises of wind and foot movements as he approached the base of the mountain and then he saw her just as attractive as he remembered her being earlier. She had pretty long hair, it was a soft brown color and she had large grey eyes framed by dark thick lashes; she had a concentrated look in her eyes, she was about to perform a technique, he took another step towards the bottom of the path but came tumbling down. Aureole was so startled by the noise and intrusion, she shot the gust of air defensively at the figure that fell, knocking Meelo harshly into the stone wall of the mountain.

His vision went black, then cloudy, and then he saw her face hovering over his, the light shined from behind her head, framing her face with a golden light that filtered through her hair turning pieces of it bronze. Her cheeks were flushed from her training and she was biting her full bottom lip,

"A-are you alright?"


	2. Chapter 2

Authors Note: Your reviews mean so much to me avatarmaddy, Abbl2, and my two wonderful guests :) thank you so much for reading!

* * *

A goofy smile spread across Meelo's face as he saw the object of his few hours' affection. He had taken a fall, but he hadn't been seriously injured. She was even prettier up close was all he could think about as he stared up into her worried grey eyes.

Meelo winced as he opened his mouth to speak,

"I, uh, yeah! Yes, I'm fine. Just dandy, better even, then I was before." He said rubbing the back of his head. He was keeping it cool, totally nonchalant, maybe Meelo had _meant _to trip over that rock haphazardly. Meelo sat up and Aurie stood up, Aureole was recovering from her concern and blinked her large eyes a few times and filling the awkward silence,

"Well...that's good." She said noncommittally, slowly bouncing on and off the balls of her feet.

"Yeah—really great." Meelo said nodding in agreement...he had forgotten why he had come down here in the first place without a game plan...or at least something to say.

So he went off a limb and tried to muster up anything, _anything, _to end the uncomfortable silence that had followed his previous stupid sentence,

"So, umm, you're one of the sister's that lives here? That's awesome! I'm with the traveling party that came through last night; we just made our way back through the earth kingdom." He smiled good-naturedly.

Aurie pursed her lips and blew out her nose, she didn't like that her training and meditation were interrupted, she hated being surprised (especially in the form of Monk Moron falling down half of a mountain and scaring the air out of her), and she harbored unpleasant feelings towards small talk with strangers,

"How interesting, umm, are you lost or anything?" She offered, maybe he had been looking for food...or his bison, or something else mundane and found himself lost and clearly out of place. She could direct him to the correct path and he could be on his way. Then, she could go back to concentrating.

"Oh, umm, no, I'm not lost really, I was going for a walk and lucky for me my tumble down the cliff landed me in the presence of a pretty girl." There, he got his smooth-talking-cool-guy act back on. Aureole's cheeks turned bright red, no necessarily out of flattery, she was taken aback by his forwardness and quite frankly annoyed that her training time was being wasted by some tall, good looking, cliff creeper. Her finger jabbed pointedly at his chest,

"Listen here punk, I'm busy right now and—" Aureole was about to tear into him when Meelo interrupted her as she spoke,"

"So, you'll be free later?"

"And I don't need—huh?" Aurie's eyebrows shot up and she looked very, very confused. Meelo continued, speaking slowly to make sure Aureole understood him,

"You're busy now, ..but, you'll be free later?" He asked hopefully, he watched as the girl lowered her defenses slightly and crossed her arms loosely,

"Well, no. I'm busy pretty much all day long."

"Well, what about tomorrow? The next day? I'm free whenever, I just have to help sister Lang teach a class to the younger students in the afternoon tomorrow." Because of her limited contact with the opposite sex, Aureole was completely inept in what exactly this monk was getting at, what did he want her free time for? He just all of the sudden fell in, she didn't even know him...but she had this strange feeling that she did know him, from somewhere, like a distant and cloudy memory. He looked so familiar.

"I don't even know your name, Monk I-think-you-hit-your-head-to-hard." Meelo smiled embarrassed, he had forgotten to introduce himself twice in a row now...on the same day. Traveling around with a bunch of dirty man friends really sucks the manners out of a guy.

"My name is Monk Meelo, from the Southern Air Temple; it is a pleasure to meet you...?"

"Aureole." Auire answered slowly, she really didn't want to be rude but she also really didn't want to be talking to some random Monk, albeit a really good looking monk. Seeing that he was about to speak again Aurie quickly interrupted him,

"You're weird." She walked brusquely around him and started up the stone steps that lead back up to the temple. Meelo quickly followed up after her,

"Hey! Wait up! I thought you were busy down there?" He fell in step behind her, not minding the view at all. Aureole rolled her eyes and concentrated on staying calm,

"I _was _busy," She spun around to face him, her hands on her hips, "You know, I have a lot of training to do and it doesn't help when attractive strangers drop in, literally, and force awkward conversations and waste my time." She finished haughtily, continuing her way up the staircase. Meelo's smile grew in tenfold and he lifted off the ground, air bending a few steps ahead of Aureole who almost ran into him, causing Meelo to catch her by her hand and shoulder,

"All that I got out of that was that you think I'm gorgeous." Meelo smiled half joking and half in smugness. Aureole's bright red and flustered face scowled and she stepped around him and out of his physical contact,

"W-what? When did I say that? I didn't say that." Her voice got higher in pitch and her cheeks were basically on fire, why did she get so flustered around this guy? She looked at him again; smug smile and all, and she noticed that he looked interestingly young, like he shouldn't be a master air bender because he's so young kind of young.

"You said it just a minute ago and don't worry, people get distracted and tongue tied constantly around me," He wiggled his eye brows, "It's because I'm incredibly good looking." She could tell he was just teasing her but she hated being teased. She was a very high strung girl and didn't like any funny business.

"I think you've let the air get to your head." She said dismissively trying to regain control of the situation. She was getting close to laughing with him, it was horrifying.

"There's no room for air in my head, it's full of you." She bit her lip and blinked a few times, trying to contain a giggle, but it slipped, that was possibly the cheesiest line she had ever heard.

"That is soo bad." She laughed and he joined in, happy to have made her happy, her laugh seemed contagious.

"But you're laughing," Meelo said happily, "So, it couldn't have been that bad." The wind started to pick up, blowing bright brown hair into Aureole's face and she let a small smile slip,

"No, it was really bad, that's why I laughed." She looked to the sun rising higher in the sky, "We should get up to the temple before the sun scorches our skin." Aurie just couldn't see why people thought she was a 'stick in the mud' or a 'downer', she was damn right endearing.

The midmorning light was beating harshly onto their heads and as they walked up the steps in a comfortable silence, Aurie and Meelo both privately had distant feelings of the spirits shifting in some way—like a change was coming on the wings of the cool breeze. Certain fates were being decided and the winds being sent their way were not the kind of currents that could be controlled.

Aureole was about to speak when she noticed a literal change in the wind, at first she thought it was her sisters, and she was about to let out a squeak of dread but when she looked to the sky she saw a flying lemur, more specifically her flying lemur, Ume. Meelo noticed her looking up and did the same just in time to witness Ume fly straight at Aureole, grabbing onto her face and bringing himself to a stop. Looking up at Meelo, Aureole grimaced and said,

"Umm, this is Ume. He is my lemur...he's a little clumsy? Yeah, that's the word I would use to describe him." She pet her friend upon the head and Ume did the same to her. Ume felt that Aurie was his human servant who often needed his help and guidance. Humans were not the brightest of creatures.

"He's awesome!" Meelo exclaimed excitedly, after months being away from air animals in the Earth kingdom all of the bison and lemurs that inhabited the Eastern Temple were a welcome familiarity. "Man, he's fast, I'm surprised he didn't knock you over, he basically slammed into your face. Someone's stronger than they seem." He punched Aureole's shoulder playfully and she rolled her eyes

Ume licked Aurie's cheek and let out a small squeak and trill, turning to face Meelo he hopped off of Aurie's face and crawled circles around his shoulders, both of the young air nomads were perplexed by Ume's behavior,

"Ume! Leave Meelo alone, you're being weird. Go play with the other sky lemurs." She said crossly, grabbing Ume and gently tossing him in the air, prompting him to spread his wings and land on her shoulder again. Aurie shrugged her shoulder and she and Meelo continued up the mountain, Meelo talking the entire time and changing subjects so fast that Aureole had trouble keeping up. She thought the monk was okay...but that didn't make him any less annoying. She suspected he would hang around her while she had an early lunch and then leave her alone—she had a schedule to keep.

'Maybe Dechan and Lhe-mi will come and bother him away,' was a hope that Aurie held onto while the monk continued his fast speak,

"Oh and then in the other villages also were celebrating an Avatar related holiday it was so cool and there was a lot of food and it was so good and the place was packed they even brought in a fire nation acrobatic act with benders and there were so many lights not as many as I saw when I went to the New Year's festival in Basing-Se man so those people know how to party everyone was heavily intoxicated even I can't remember half that night, not that I'm one to drink very much just sometimes when the mood is right and—" Aureole was about to snap when she saw Sister Ling up ahead and quickened her pace up to see her,

"Sister Ling!" She called out grabbing her mentor's attention. Sister Ling smiled warmly at her favorite student, who looked rather flustered, and then she noticed that Aureole was being followed by a handsome young monk that was staying with them from the traveling party.

"Hello child, you look as if you have had an exciting morning." She had a bowl full of fruit and invited the young nomads to join her, much to the chagrin of her student who was so desperately trying to shake Meelo off her shoulder. What? Ling could tell when her pupil didn't like someone, she is a very perceptive old woman, she also enjoys teasing her high strung student.

Rolling her eyes and grabbing two large apples and four plums she introduced Meelo and Ling to each other and she listened halfheartedly as Meelo and Ling had an animated discussion of his travels. Air nomads were well known for their easygoing sense of humor and a day never passed without hearing laughter ringing out the temples like bells.

Aurie loved the sound of laughter, it made her happy, she could never understand how easily laughter came to most people, she would smile or smirk in amusement, but laughing was never something she let herself do too frequently. She felt the need to control everything about herself and although the freeness of laughter excited her and pleased her—it also scared her. Aureole has a fear of letting go, of having nothing spiritually and emotionally; of being empty and alone.

Hearing one of Meelo's friends call out to him she looked up and see him waving back, he turned to the two ladies,

"If you'll excuse me, I have to be off. It was a pleasure to meet both of you. I hope to see you later on." He winked at Aureole who scowled and bit into her second apple, Ume was in her lap finishing a third plum, and they watched Meelo walk away. Aureole soaked in the silence like she had been deprived of it for years.

"Gosh, I thought he would never leave." Aurie put her hands on her head. Sister Ling smiled,

"Oh, but he seemed like such a nice young man. Not to mention good looking! If I were 30 years younger..." She trailed off laughing to herself.

"Sister Ling!" Aurie nearly choked on her apple, her eyebrow involuntarily twitched, "I did not hear that. He was annoying is what he was, no amount of tall, lean, muscly armed, attractiveness can cure him of that." Ling gave Aureole a knowing smile and continued eating a slice of her peach. Aureole narrowed her eyes and sat up straighter,

"What are you dreaming up there in that dubious mind of yours?"

"Oh nothing dear," Ling said feigning innocence, "It's just that I've never seen you react so—strongly to anyone like you did just now."

"Me either!" Dechan jumped out from behind a bush and into the shade of the tree were Ling and Aurie were eating, causing Aureole to jump nearly twelve feet in the air. Lhe-mi echoed the same thing as she grabbed a mango from the fruit basket and sat down next to Sister Ling.

"Wha—Where did you two little monster's come from?" Aureole was blushing for the umpteenth time that day and glaring at her two little friends.

"From over there in that bush."

"Duh."

"Weren't you there?" Aureole smacked her forehead and crossed her arms as Ume climbed onto her shoulder and attempted smooth out the frown on her brow with his tiny hands making little lemur noises during the process.

"So," Both girls were rolled unto their stomachs, hands tucked under their chins, and feet kicking slightly back and forth, looking up at their older sister. Dechan's smile grew mischievously with delight,

"Tell us about your Hunk-ey Monk-ey, Aurie!"

"What was th—I, huh, jeeze. I can't even believe you said that." Aureole shook her head, exasperated, what was happening to the world. This has been an odd morning, and she was refusing to let it be an odd rest of the day. She stood up abruptly, holding Ume to her chest, and left in a huff, grumbling about training and studying while the three ladies left behind laughed and gossiped about their favorite haughty teenager.

* * *

A month went by and every morning Meelo would drop in on Aurie while she trained and hang around her until he had to go teach a class in the afternoon. He was really just trying to be her friend at this point; he thought she was wonderful and beautiful...but incredibly high strung. There was just something about her and he like being around her—hearing her talk. She was mostly quiet because well...believe it or not Meelo had this problem of talking ceaselessly without being aware that he was talking ceaselessly. He liked that Aureole was careful about what she said, because he could tell she really thought about stuff before she said it—Meelo was pretty certain she was something amazing.

"Hey, earth to Meelo," Nawang hit him in the back of the head, "Buddy, snap out of it, you're staring creepily into space again." Meelo blinked a few times and then grinned goofily,

"Sorry, man."

"Are you thinking about that girl again? The mean one?" Nawang asked rhetorically...he knew Meelo was thinking about her. He'd been absent this entire week, spending all of his free time bothering a girl who didn't want much to do with him. It kind of seemed to Nawang like she didn't really want much to do with anyone.

"She's not mean," Meelo frowned, "She's, um, feisty."

"And stuck up," Nawang added.

"She's just very goal oriented!" Meelo defended adamantly.

"Wow, she sounds like a bucket full of fun, Meelo. 'Goal oriented' is just the phrase I would use to describe a girl to complement your lazy arrogance."

"That's what I thought too!" Meelo replied happily, unaware his friend's words were laced heavily with sarcasm.

Rolling his eyes Nawang thought seriously about asking his friend what his intentions were. He's a bit of a womanizer and this girl Meelo was after hadn't even been 100 miles outside of her own temple yet. Being older than Meelo by almost ten years, Nawang had a different view of the world. Meelo saw everything as new, exciting, and his for the taking; Nawang knew of consequences for his actions and looked at the world a bit more cautiously. But Meelo—Meelo sort of just dove into things. Like this girl, Aureole; Meelo was all about this girl Aureole and Nawang had no idea why, she was pretty, he would give her that, but she had a bad attitude. He had thought about mentioning it...but he didn't want to ruffle anyone's feathers. Besides, he would think to himself, lately his friend had been in a bit of a funk, he just wasn't the happy go lucky kid he usually was as of late. This girl was giving him back some of his enthusiasm. He just sincerely hoped for his friend's sake that Meelo's heart didn't get all messed up and broken.

"You should be careful, she seems like trouble." Nawang ended up saying anyway.

"I think she seems...familiar," Meelo countered, "I don't know how to explain it but, I feel drawn to her, you know? Like—like how wind feels, it's pushing me towards her and circling around her."

"I never knew you to be the hopeless romantic type," Nawang laughed lightly. "I'm just saying that you should watch out for yourself. It's not like you're going to be here forever and she's not even done mastering air bending, maybe you should take a step back, you're falling pretty quickly here."

"I never said I was in love with the girl!" Meelo became defensive, " I just—I don't know, there's something about her that I can't explain and I don't want to risk letting it slip away before I find out what it is."

"I feel like you're turning her into an idea, she's not something to figure out, she's a person. A normal person. Don't put her on a pedestal that she can't reach, you're going to hurt yourself and her."

"I'm not putting her on a pedestal she can't reach; you're over thinking the situation." Meelo said, he was a little annoyed...mostly because he might actually be doing all of those things—but still, he didn't want to hear them.

"Let's hope so." Nawang stood up and offered a hand to his friend who declined. Meelo said he needed to clear his head a little bit and that he would meet up with him later, maybe they could practice their air bending together. Of course, Meelo's version of clearing his head that day was going to find Aureole and not really clear his head at all. He figured he would find her down by where she usually practiced so he headed that way slowly—a fluttery feeling burst in his chest at the thought of seeing her face.

* * *

'This day is horrible.' Aurie thought to herself as she tried for the millionth time to do her air bending technique. Lately, because of her uncomfortably odd dreams, Aureole had only been sleeping around four hours a night, add that to her new annoying Monk who followed her around, and her absolutely neurotic training schedule, and...well Aurie was on edge—more so than usual.

Her typically enduring patient behavior was gone; she snapped at Dechan and Lhe-mi and had been avoiding sister Ling because she didn't want to yell at the old woman for answering her despair linked questions with confusing riddles. And she didn't know if Meelo was thick headed or just stupid, because she'd been the meanest to him and he hadn't even noticed, he was right next to her every day, following her around like a puppy.

Like when they were walking down the hall the other day,

"Hey, Aureole, wanna know about the time when I had to fight off a tiger-dillo in Ba Sing Se and—"

"No." Aureole said flatly.

"But, it was really cool! Its fangs were—"

"No."

"Well how about—"

"Don't you have some where to be?" Areole cut Meelo off viciously.

"Nope!" Meelo smiled goofily and flung an arm around Aurie's shoulders, "You're pretty much stuck with me the rest of the day," Meelo tapped her nose with his finger,"...lucky you."

Aurie glared up at him through her thick dark eye lashes, he was so damn cheerful; she smacked his arm away and then stuck her nose up in the air walking quickly ahead of him. She couldn't seem to be away from him long enough, it was exhausting.

But sometimes—not often but sometimes, there were these short moments of silence when they would be together, looking at the sunrise or the view of the world from the top of the temple when they were both distracted by the colors and the quiet, and she felt lighter and peaceful knowing that Meelo was next to her. But she had about a twelve second rebound before Aureole was back to being grumpy gilacorn, biting and snapping at anything that got in her way or slightly annoyed her.

And this is what her mood has reduced her bending too, an uneven current that she was chaotically trying to control...but failing at miserably. After flying a few feet up in the air and being dropped by it, Aureole was blowing fly away hairs out of her face when she felt the tingle of a stare on her back, turning around and leering she said,

"Stop looking at me, Ume!" Aureole glared at the lemur, causing him to make a tiny noise and then cover his eyes with his hands. Aureole concentrated on manipulating the wind to circle around her, she was certain that she had control but then her mind sent her back to being trapped inside a glacier with a flash of bright blue light. The wind circulating around her began to pulse and become unsteady, her footing was compromised and she was thrown up into her own air current, spinning her around harshly, and then slamming her into the smooth rocks of the mountainside. Painfully sliding down the rock, Aureole had her cheek resting on the cool stone, giving herself moment to collect herself before standing up.

She felt Ume land lightly on her back and begin patting her head in comfort.

'At least no one saw that...' She thought glumly to herself.

"Hey Aureole, are you alright?" Meelo asked frantically and he came rushing next to Aureole's prone body with a gust of wind, "I saw you slam in to the wall." He tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder and she shakily sat up putting her hand on her cheek and grumbling that she was fine.

The phrase, 'I spoke to soon,' wandered darkly past her mind. Meelo was talking without breathing, repeatedly asking if she was okay, just going on and on and on,

'Holy freaking spirit would this guy ever shut up?' Her head pounded violently, like there was a tiny man inside kicking and punching her skull. Her arms and stomach ached horribly; she knew they were turning purple, as she inhaled timidly trying to lessen the pain of breathing she felt a tear slip past her eyes. Maybe she deserved this, maybe being mean and bitching at everyone that talked to her the past few weeks was catching up with her.

Aureole was so tired and drained—but she couldn't sleep. She was stressing herself out by keeping all of her feelings bottled up inside and no she was in mind numbing pain. Before she knew it several tears came spilling down her cheeks. She reached up to wipe them away and cover her face but Meelo beat her to it.

"Hey," He said gently wiping away her tears, "Hey, you don't need to cry," Seeing her lower lip tremble and wide eyes water caused his heart to ache unbearably. He lightly touched her head where he had seen it bounce off of the stone and felt a large bump forming underneath her hair. She winced and swatted his hand away sniffling and moving herself so that she sat a little straighter with her leg crossed and her back resting against the side of the mountain.

"What are you doing here?" Her voice was choked when she spoke, she was barely keeping herself from sobbing. She hated this, this was stupid, and crying was stupid, especially in front of Meelo. But she couldn't bring herself to stop. Not that she cared what he thought but she didn't want him to think she was a cry baby.

"I—well I came down to see you and then I saw you go up in the air and then...well get violently thrown against the side of the mountain. Then I flew down here to see if you were hurt and well, well—jeeze, A-are you oaky?"

"Do I look okay?" She snapped at him, still crying, raising her voice even slightly jarred her head and made her vision black dotted and dizzy. She immediately felt bad for being mean, which made her think, that she must've hit her head super hard, and ended up apologizing quickly.

"That's okay, you're hurt." He muttered distractedly, he bent down and placed his arms behind her back and knees to lift her, "We have to get you back to the temple," When he raised her up she shut her eyes tightly and buried her face against his shoulder. Holding her a securely as possible without hurting her, Meelo walked lightly over to the steps before he heard muffle a fowl word into his shoulder and he stopped to look down,

"We need to stop, okay? Just for a minute or 10 because I can't handle this right now," She sounded hysteric even to herself but Aureole's entire body felt every little movement that Meelo made as he walked.

All Meelo could think as he gently sat down with Aurie in his arms was that they could really use a water bender with healing abilities right now. Tears were still leaking from the corners of her eyes and she was rubbing the temples of her eyes as she tried to collect herself...now that he thought about it Meelo could see how he missed the signs of Aurie falling apart. He knew she rarely slept...she was always awake before he was awake staring blankly out at sunrises and she was never slept until hours after everyone else fell asleep, he could see the dark circles under her eyes.

When her first saw her, he saw what everyone else did; she was a young, pretty, and strong girl that trained very hard and took herself way too seriously. But he could see that she put way too much pressure on herself and that she was cracking,

"You need to relax more," He said seriously as he was thinking about it, "And probably eat more, and sleep more now that I think about it. You're stressing yourself out, Aurie."

"I am not stressing myself out," She had calmed down and spoke stubbornly.

"Oh, really? Do you usually lose control and slam yourself against large stone walls then?"

Aureole took a deep breath, breathing out her nose slowly, her head was pounding less harshly and her vision was clearing. She knew she wasn't seriously hurt, lucky for her, but she was exhausted from crying. She let a few moments pass before she looked up at Meelo and answered dejectedly,

"No."

"Well then maybe you should take my advice." Meelo felt relieved that she wasn't arguing with him...or maybe he should be worried because that's what she usually did.

"Easier said than done." Aureole muttered leaning her head back against his shoulder thoughtlessly. He really liked this, Meelo noticed, he felt so content to just hold her and not let go.

"It is easy," Meelo encouraged, "All you have to do is to let your mind be free. Think of nothing and relax." Aurie fiddled with the end of her braid, the dull ache of her bruises clouded her mind,

"I guess I just don't know how to do that..." She finally concluded. Sure she meditated...not nearly as often as she should but she did it. She did most of her training on her own unless she asked for Sister Ling's help which was rare. Maybe she needed more structure.

"I could teach you," Meelo suggested eagerly, "I could help you with your training!" He said enthusiastically. Getting Aureole to look up at him and raise her eye brow, did she really want this kid teaching her?...yes, yes she did. It's because he's a talented and powerful bender her logical side reasoned but every other part of her just wanted to be around him no matter how much she pretended she didn't like being around him.

"Fine," Aureole said surprising Meelo, "But you have to take it seriously, Meelo. This isn't a joke, okay? This is important to me."

"I know, I know! I will be serious! It'll be great you'll see, I'm an awesome teacher." His movements became animated and excited again. It made Aurie smile a little, but her head was still foggy and her thoughts felt like they were swimming in a thick goo, as much as she like sitting here with Meelo, leaned against his warm chest...she knew that they really needed to get her to a healer,

"I'm sure you are. But, could you—erm, take me to the temple? I think I might have a head in my concussion." Aureole's eye sight became fuzzy again and she blinked hard a few times trying to clear it.

"Oh, yeah sure thing, hold on tight." He flew up the stairs as quickly as possible and Aureole lost consciousness.


	3. Chapter 3

This was the worst idea she had ever agreed to. Aureole was sweating and aching in places she didn't know she had.

Meelo, she decided, was kind of a hard ass when it came to training.

He had her waking up an hour before sunrise and meditating the first four hours of the day...every day. This gave her ungodly amounts of time to think and think and think about everything that bothered and stressed her out. This of course was not the purpose of the exercise, meditation is meant to clear the mind, but leave it to Aureole to let it cloud her mind instead. Beyond the usual psyching herself out, Aureole was subjected to basic training like running and reviewing low level defensive motions.

Seeing a more serious side to Meelo was nice though, Aureole really liked it. This slightly bothered her because seeing this new side of him made her all...giddy on the inside. Aureole found herself actually _wanting _to be around him and while they were training she found herself watching him beyond his demonstrations of form...she was paying attention to his form in a different way.

This was another problem because instead of paying attention, sometimes Aureole was thinking about how muscley and lean his arms were or how handsome Meelo looked when he was concentrating and how happy his face was when he was air bending.

Sometimes, when she was having a particularly difficult time getting her footing correct or her balance just so, Meelo would come close to her, his warm hands would direct her movements, she would be close enough to feel him talking, and she would melt into the moment.

She felt this sort of...affection? Yes, affection for him, and she did not know how to handle it very well.

"Hey Aurie, how's it going?" Meelo smiled at her. She had these moments when she would stare up at the sky and be completely oblivious to the world around her. If he tried guessing why she did it so often he might've thought that it was because she wanted to fly—she certainly loved being up in the air.

Snapping out of her day dream, Aureole shook her head and frowned at Meelo, putting her hands on her hips,

"Don't call me that."

"Lhe-mi and Dechan call you Aurie!" He argued playfully.

"I don't like it when they call me that either. They're both just too air-headed to remember. "

"Aw, well, I'm sorry, Aurie. It won't happen again." He sat next to her on the cliff she was resting on. They were done with training and she had been peacefully staring out into the clouds before the ever present Monk came to bother her.

"You just did it again." Aureole said flatly.

"Yeah, well, I don't think you care that much." He smiled at her. She was staring at the sky again...or the sun. Wow, she was staring directly at the sun. He frowned slightly and brought his hand up to shade her eyes.

"You shouldn't do that, it's bad for your eyes." She smiled and moved his hand back down, covering his hand with hers and said,

"I know. But—the sun is so beautiful, how can you not look at it."

"I know how you feel." Meelo stared at Aureole as she looked off into the distance. She was so beautiful, he couldn't help but look at her; her eyes and her laugh and, jeeze, her hair and just, just her. Everything about her was just so pleasant to look at—but she was more.

Meelo wouldn't be this crazy over just _any _girl. He was almost positive after these few months that she was _the _girl for him. He just had to...you know, get her to feel the same way about him—and he was working his hardest to earn her approval.

He took her training seriously because she really wanted him to, he was thoughtful and tried not to do things to bug her on purpose...although there were so many things that bothered her sometimes he couldn't help it and he always kept a respectful distance because he knew that she liked that. Well, he at least tried to. It was hard for Meelo to take Aurie so seriously all of the time because occasionally she was just so determined and cute and all he wanted to do was grab her and kiss her senseless.

"It's like some sort of sick joke," Aureole roused him from his thoughts,

"You know, the sun? It's so beautiful and perfect and bright...but if you stare at it for too long it'll blind you." She tightened her grip on Meelo's hand that she unconsciously hadn't let go of.

"It's possibly the most amazing thing that nature has ever possessed and it's rightfully put up in the sky where everyone can see it. But we can't look at the sun, at least not for long...it's like dangling food in front of a starving man."

She let her head drop to her shoulder and bumped into Meelo's in the process. At first she hesitated and so did he, neither knew how the other would react but something very comforting arose from the contact. She even went a step further and let her head rest slightly on his shoulder. His thumb brushed back and forth thoughtlessly on her hand and they both watched the sun set.

"You think a lot." Meelo finally responded.

"Yeah."

* * *

Aureole wandered the halls of the temple looking for Sister Ling. She had to talk to somebody about the confusing feelings that Meelo gave her...and there was no way in hell she was going to take advice about Meelo from her twelve-year-old tormentors. Sister Ling would know what to do; Sister Ling _always _knew what to do.

Aureole had a sleeping Ume in her arms, clinging to him like a teddy bear, as she searched for Ling. It was midmorning on her day off and Sister Ling usually was tending to the bison at this point in the day.

She wondered to herself if Meelo's bison was there and if maybe he would be there too. She smiled at the thought of him thinking that she had come to see him; he always seemed to light up when she looked at him. She wore this same dopey smile as she entered the vast courtyard where they cared for the bison. The space was open, the white columns stood tall, and had it had a breathtaking view of the surrounding forest on the island. There were several of the bison scattered about eating hay, the younger ones were up in the air playing with one another and their mother bison was not far behind.

"Thinking about your husband?" A sly old voice said from beside her. Aurie jumped at the noise, when did sister Ling get there?

"My—my what? You mean, _Meelo_? Sister Ling seriously, we're just friends. We—he and I, we just train together and—"

"And eat together and share moonlit conversations together and hold hands together." Ling continued the list for her. "He is your husband." She said definitively.

"Wha—you know we don't even believe in that sort of thing!" She said crossing her arms and pouting.

"You decide for yourself what you believe in when love is concerned." She said smiling. "So, have you and your husband been having problems? Is this why you've come to find me? You know, I only raised you since you were an infant. Would it kill you to walk across the hall every now and again to say 'hello'? It's like you've gotten married and I've disappeared."

Slapping her palm to her face Aureole shook her head,

'She has got to be kidding,' was all Aurie could think to keep herself from going completely ballistic.

"I am _not _married, crazy old woman," She muttered the last part. "And you're the one that has been absent! Every time I go looking for you in places I know you should be in I run into my husband!" Aureole finished crossly.

"Don't blame your husband, dear. If you ever need me I'm really not that hard to find."

"He is _not _my husband."

"You called him that yourself a moment ago." Ling smiled happily. Aureole was fun enough to tease on her own but the addition of Meelo made it even better. She got herself so worked up and it was just entertaining for hours.

"I did no—erm, well, I didn't mean it!"

"Of course you didn't." There was a brief pause in which Aureole pouted haughtily saying nothing and Ling continued humming and petting her bison.

"So, what was it you came to talk to me about, dear?" Sister Ling asked pleasantly. Aureole fiddled with her long braid and pursed her lips looking up at Ling through her eyelashes,

"Meelo." Aureole grumbled. Ling's grin widened in tenfold and a knowing light twinkled in her eyes.

"What about the man?" Ling prompted for further information.

"He's...distracting." Aureole said finally over her utter embarrassment.

"In what way? Isn't he supposed to be helping you with mastering your 26th level? You know that exam is coming up soon." The old woman lectured.

"Yes, of course I know. I mean—it's the most important thing to me right now, but, Meelo...I think about him often. Like, super often and he's always following me like a baby koala sheep, and he's so damn—I mean darn, cheerful."

"He seems like such a nice boy." Ling smiled at Aureole who leered at her in return.

"He is _not _a _nice_ boy, he's—he's after something from me. I can tell! I'm not being paranoid!" Sister Ling put her hands up dismissively, saying,

"No one said you wer—"

"I know you're thinking it." Aurie snapped.

"I think you like this boy more than you are leading on. Well, quite frankly I know that you like him very much," She laughed lightly, "He's driving you crazy."

"Well, you see, that's not a good thing! Crazy isn't good."

"No, no, Aureole he's not driving you crazy, he's driving you _crazy."_ Sister Ling tried explaining. Aureole gave her a dumbfounded look and raised an eyebrow in exasperation,

"In _what world _do crazy and _crazy _have to different meanings?"

"You just need to relax, dear. He's a nice, handsome boy who is interested in you. Is that so bad?" Sister Ling placed a comforting hand on her pupil's shoulder.

Her question made Aureole pause and reflect, as Sister Ling's questions usually do, and she didn't really know why she was so against her developing feelings for Meelo. Maybe it was the feelings part of it, emotions were so unpredictable, and Aureole made sure to have a tight rein on her own. The prospect of letting someone have enough of her heart to hurt it scared Aureole.

"I need to focus," Aureole said decisively, "I can't have my feelings or hormones or whatever nonsense the universe is trying to pull on me distract me. Maybe I just need to start ignoring him or not training with him."

"But isn't he helping you with your bending?"

"...yes."

"And isn't it you who is not able to focus?"

"...yes."

"Perhaps change inside of yourself in more pertinent than seeking change in others. Meelo is not the cause of your problems, you create your own."

Aureole sighed and scratched the top of Ume's head gently, prompting him to purr, she knew that Ling was correct, she just didn't like it.

"How'd you get so wise?" She grumbled defeated.

"Many, many years of making mistakes and being unwise." Ling smiled at Aureole. "I am getting old and it would make me happy to see you happy." Being that Ling never had any children, she saw Aureole as a daughter or what could have been her daughter.

"I am happy." Aureole muttered, she was tired.

"Have you not been sleeping?" Sister Ling enquired.

"Not very well, my dreaming has become...restless and more nightmarish." After describing her dreams to Ling, Aureole became very aware of the foreboding nature that they carried. These dreams did not put her in any direct danger, but she knew that the world outside of her was burning. She asked the sister if she thought that her dreams could be prophetic.

"Dreams are our own subconscious revealing to us our own fears and desires. This why dreams are so powerful and would be very difficult for any spirit to tamper with. Perhaps you should look into the mundane rather than the supernatural in concern of your nightmares."

While completely agreeing with Sister Ling on the outside, deep down Aurie knew that there was something off about her dreams. Something that she sensed was horribly wrong...if her dreams were revealing to Aureole what her own fears were, then why was she a young boy in her dreams and not herself?

There was something off—a little bit wrong. She just didn't know what yet. She did, however, notice that since she had been hanging around Meelo more often and spending most of her time even beyond training with him, her sleep had come easier to her and her nightmares had been less severe.

Of course, she had been avoiding him for the past few days because of her hesitant feelings and consequently her nightmares had come back in full force. As Aureole walked away from Ling and the bison, she felt a flutter in her chest and she had the desire to go find Meelo. And after hearing everything that Ling had to say about him and knowing how she felt about Meelo, Aureole could think of no reason not to go find him.

As she rounded the corner with the intent of finding him she felt the giddy anticipation she had grown used to feeling around him, only this time she let herself feel it and be happy about it. Her pace quickened and then she saw him talking to some of his friends that were still lingering behind from the travel party. When Meelo looked up at her he smiled and Aureole couldn't help but smile back at him.

* * *

Sister Ling had ended up suggesting that Aureole go with the children and elder nuns to the little earth kingdom village they lived near, so she could unwind and have fun.

She secretly only went because she knew that Meelo was going and she wanted to be around him when he wasn't kicking her ass in training. And he could see her when she looked all pretty—not that Aureole cared about that sort of thing. She cared so little that she didn't wear her hair down or anything, or, like, you know, spend an hour picking through her limited wardrobe for an outfit. And she didn't self-consciously pace in her room until the last possible moment before they left. And Lhe-mi and Dechan totally didn't sense her acting weird today either.

As Aureole walked out in the courtyard where all the girls were laughing and playing she saw that most of the people going were a lot younger than her and so she figured she could help watch the little monsters. In the end, to her luck and lack thereof, she was assigned to watch Lhe-mi and Dechan who were arguably the most difficult children to control.

The thing that disappointed her though, was the fact that Meelo did not appear to be anywhere in the small group. She felt her heart sink a little...she was looking forward to seeing him.

"What's got you so down in the dumps?" Dechan asked while they were up in one the flying bison traveling towards town.

"Nothing." Aureole said dismissively.

"It's because her husband isn't here." Lhe-mi smiled impishly giving Dechan a knowing glance.

"We know why he's not here." Dechan said leaning in closer to Aureole on one side.

"Oh, really?" Aureole why curious now, "Where is he? I thought Meelo was coming with us."

"He's not _not_ coming." Lhe-mi offered.

"So, where is he?" Aurie asked impatiently, she kind of doubted that they even knew, she figured they were probably being rotten and teasing her.

"He's already there." Dechan smiled.

"Yeah, so don't worry about your date with him." Lhe-mi happily reassured her.

"It isn't ruined." Dechan finished.

"Really?" Aureole asked raising an eyebrow, "Why'd he go there early?" The two little air bender's smile innocently and said in unison,

"We dunno."

* * *

It was early in the morning. Way too early if you asked Meelo, but he was up anyway. He had decided to leave early to the little Earth Kingdom village because he wanted to buy something for Aureole. He had money left over from his travel across the continent and since he didn't need any while living in the air temples he decided to put it to good use.

The only problem with Meelo's brilliant and thoughtful idea was that...he wasn't quite sure what Aureole would want. Sure he'd been spending nearly every day with her this past month but she and him didn't talk about that kind of stuff. Sometimes she did this cute thing when she would babble on and on about things that Meelo couldn't understand but he liked hearing them regardless.

Lately even, the past week specifically, she had been really unusually nice to him. She smiled more often and even laughed at one of his jokes.

Looking around the market place Meelo could see a few places of interest where he could see shiny stuff that maybe Aureole would want.

He went past a cart that had fans made out of colorful, exotic birds from the Fire Nation, and the old woman who tried to get him the buy the fan had four gold teeth and ten black ones. She was very convincing and he actually almost bought four of them...but then he got the mental image of Aureole holding up the obnoxiously colored fans and decided against it.

He considered buying her flowers but he decided he wanted to give her something lasting. He went past a few jewelry carts but he just became overwhelmed with how many options there were. Did she want something gold or silver?

All these merchants suggested he get her a stone that matched her eyes but then he didn't know if he wanted to spend his money on a gray stone. Would a girl even like a gray stone? He decided he was overthinking it after he noticed that an hour had passed since he had begun shopping and he realized that the girls would be arriving soon.

"Are you looking for anything special?" Meelo looked up to see a pretty black haired girl wearing green smiling at him from behind a cart.

"Um, yeah kind of." He said approaching the cart. To his luck he saw that she sold a variety of girly things.

"Is it for your girlfriend?" She asked fluttering her eyelashes at him.

"Um, well not really...but it is for a girl." He smiled back at her easily. She was really nice; Meelo liked it when people were really nice.

"Well," She said in a singsong voice, "We a variety of pretty things here that would surely charm any young lady." She leaned her cheek onto her hand and leaned closer to him and began pointing to various bracelets and hair clips. He began laughing and flirting with her and they exchanged names, her name was Ai.

"Well, which one do you like the best?" Meelo asked, having lost interest in finding something for Aureole for the moment, there was just nothing good enough.

"That's a tough question," Ai said thoughtfully, she glanced down at all of the beautiful accessories and pursed her red lips. "I really like this one," She said lifting up one of the more expensive gold hair clips. It was covered in flowering golden vines and each blossom held an impressive shimmering ruby jewel.

"Wow, that really is something," Meelo said eyeing the dazzling barrette. But it didn't seem like something Aurie would wear—well maybe on special occasions but he wanted something that she could wear _all _of the time. Ai smiled, placing the barrette back down in its place,

"Yes, it really is. A woman of questionable moral values sold this to us a few towns back. I figured she had stolen it from a wife of one of her clients. But, business is business." She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, wearing a distinctly bored expression on her pretty face.

He was hopelessly staring at all of the necklaces, barrettes, bracelets, and rings about to give up and call it quits when he finally saw it.

It was a bracelet that had a carved wooden design of swirls painted blue that reminded Meelo of the air, the design was connected by soft brown leather braided in to a circlet. This is perfect, he thought as the pretty merchant girl continued to talk and giggle at him. He picked it up, interrupting her, and smiled excitedly,

"This one is perfect! I'll take it." She blinked a few times at seeing the twinkle in his eyes and thought that this girl he liked must be something else.

"Yeah, sure. This is one of our older pieces," She picked it up from his hands and examined it delicately, "It was hand crafted by a man who usually makes weapons." She enjoyed giving useless tidbits of information, it made the mind numbingly boring job she had slightly more bearable...that and cute guys like this that she got to talk to all day if she was lucky.

"Really?" Meelo said casually, "That's actually very interesting. Why'd he start making jewelry?" The merchant girl shrugged her shoulders,

"Maybe he got tired of making things that hurt people; wouldn't a monk understand an aversion towards violence?" She smiled coyly.

Meelo smiled, rubbing the back of his head, "Yeah, I guess so."

"So, I get off in a few hours, how long do you think you'll be here?" She smiled charmingly up at him for a moment before placing the bracelet into a small wooden box and tying it with a light blue ribbon.

"Well, I'm going to be here until sundown, but I was planning on spending it with, well, you know" He said pointing at the little box, "The girl I'm giving that to."

Ai twirled a piece of her dark hair around her finger, "I won't tell if you won't tell." Looking past Meelo she noticed another air nomad staring at the flirty exchange with a sort of miffed expression on her pretty face. This made Ai's smile grow wider, this was probably the most entertainment she'd gotten all day. All month even.

Meelo started, "I don't think that's a go—" When Ai interrupted him and pointed past him,

"Is that your girlfriend?" Meelo turned around only to see Aureole turning around and quickly walking way. Damn his good looks and charm! They were always getting him into trouble.

"Damn, um, here you go," Meelo dumped the coins into Ai's hands and snatched up the little wooden box. "And here I go," He said jogging off after Aureole.

* * *

Aureole was at a loss for words. _That's _why he was coming in early? To flirt with some stupid pretty merchant girl? She was absolutely livid...but had this odd urge to cry. Aureole didn't understand how he made her feel so intensely, she was happy when she left this morning and then she saw him with—with _her_ and now she felt all ugly and gross on the inside.

'What a jerk!' She thought and she stormed off, 'I can't even believe that I thought he was—and that I—ugh."

She had seen his bright orange robes and smiled heading over towards him when she saw him and that girl. That girl was all over him! Practically undressing him with her eyes! And she had a seductive stupid pout in her stupid red lips and...and Aurie couldn't even believe what she was seeing.

He was totally flirting with her! Aureole had thought he only did that with her because, well, she thought he was interested in her. She felt so embarrassed that she even went out looking for him and hoped he hadn't seen her was she walked away determined to find Lhe-mi and Dechan and take out her frustration on them.

"Hey Aurie, wait up!" She heard Meelo call out after her. She walked faster; she didn't even want to see his face. He gently reached out and grabbed her arm and Aureole pulled away immediately.

"Go away Monk Moron; I don't want to speak to you right now, possibly ever."

"Okay, okay I get that you're mad but Ai and I were just—"

"Oh, Ai? I didn't know you were on a first name basis with her." She said jabbing a finger at his chest, "Maybe you should go back and talk to _her _since you're so well acquainted."

"No, no, I just met her today!" He said defensively trying to get her to stop and talk to him. By this point they had quickly made their way out of the market place and were in an open, empty field right next to it.

"You seemed _pretty_ friendly to have _just _met her this morning, _Meelo._" She said turning around and facing him. Meelo saw how red her cheeks were and she looked distinctly hurt...was she jealous? Meelo quirked an eye brow as she ranted at him about how she wasn't stupid and she knew how he was looking at Ai and blah, blah, blah. She _was _jealous.

"Are you jealous?" He said interrupting her. This made Aureole stop speaking immediately and stutter.

"Am I wha—jealous? N-no!"

"Yes you are." Meelo said smugly. "You were jealous because you thought that I was flirting with that other girl." He finished.

"You totally _were _flirting with that other girl!" Aureole adamantly insisted.

"I was just being friendly!" He tossed his hands up animatedly. When did she get so possessive? He wondered, it was kind of hot. But right now it was really annoying. So what if he flirted with that girl, it's not like it meant anything.

"There is a difference between 'friendly' and '_friendly_' and you were being the latter." She said trying to control her voice.

"Why are you getting so worked up over it, Aurie?" Meelo asked her.

"Because," She paused to find the right words, "Because it's not fair that you get to do that." She said crossing her arms.

"What do I do?" He asked frustrated. Aurie uncrossed her arms and fiddled with the deep orange sash of her pants, looking up at him she said that,

"You don't get to make me feel all happy and dizzy and make me think that you like me a lot and then go flirt with another girl just because you can. It's not fair to me."

"I knew you were jealous." He said again.

"You're an ass." She said angrily. She began arguing with him again about what flirting was and what he was doing with Ai back there and Meelo finally got fed up and took out the little ribbon wrapped box and held it out to Aurie saying,

"Here, this is what I was over there doing," Aureole took the box as Meelo continued to defend himself and untied the light blue ribbon. She opened the box gingerly and saw the most beautiful bracelet placed neatly inside. The blue swirling orbs looked similar to the air insignia and the painted wood was just perfect. She loved it so much, she couldn't believe she got so mad and he was actually not being an asshole, he was getting her a present. She looked back up at Meelo, who hadn't stopped talking (shockingly),

"But if you want to continue yelling at me then go ahead bec—" He was cut off as Aureole threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you so much, I think it's the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen and I'm sorry that I thought you were flirting with that little tramp." She said quickly, still holding onto him. Meelo laughed and hugged her back.

"Aw, Aurie, don't be that way, she seemed like a really nice girl."

"No." She said dismissively, "I don't like her." She brought her hands back down but Meelo kept her close as she slipped the bracelet onto her wrist and Meelo pulled the leather strings to fit in snuggly.


	4. Chapter 4

I am sooooo sorry for not updating sooner, my only excuse is...I have no excuse! I'll do better next time I swear. Thank you for all of your lovely reviews, I would love to hear more of them. Look forward to hearing from the Fire Nation in the next chapter!I hope you enjoy this chapter, I agonized over it. ~ElisabethDarling (please note my change in pen name, I swear I am the same person, only with a different pen name.)

* * *

She never takes off that pretty bracelet that Meelo gave her, Aureole can't help but smile stupidly every time that she sees it. That whole day was nice, perfect even. Meelo never let go of her hand and Aureole doesn't recall a moment where the both of them weren't either grinning or giggling. The development in their relationship did not go unnoticed by Lhe-mi or Dechan who were first to jump into teasing the both of them for being so affectionate.

"Ooooh, lookit they're holding hands!" Dechan clapped her hands excitedly.

"How long did that take?" Lhe-mi asked her friend while trying to tighten one of the buns in her thick dark hair.

"Not even an hour," Dechan pouted crossing her arms.

"That means we owe Sister Ling our dessert for the next two weeks!" Lhe-mi said disappointedly. "If you guys had continued arguing, like decent couples, for another two hours before you made up, Dechan and me woulda won the bet." Lhe-mi scolded the two young nomads.

"You little brats!" Aureole had her hands on her waist, "You made a bet on my love life?!" She raised her voice in disbelief.

"It was Sister Ling's idea," They whined.

"If Sister Ling told you to jump off the temple tower, would you do it?" She asked snootily to her two bratty, annoying sisters. Sly smiles gleamed across both of their faces and they blinked their big dark eyes up at Aureole,

"Um, yeah."

"We can fly."

"Duh."

After giving up on making Dechan and Lhe-mi see the error of their ways the rest of the time they spent was with one another, hand in hand. Aureole would've insisted on buying Meelo something as well...if she had any money. Most things in the temples were shared communally, so money and coins were generally useless. She decided she would make him something...eventually. She was quite apt at weaving blankets and bracelets from fabric.

Aureole and Meelo were even able to get away at the end of the day to watch the sunset. Aureole liked watching the night settle into the sky and as it turned out Meelo did to. He said the stars looked like lanterns floating up into the indigo air and Aurie squeezed his hand smiling as she enthusiastically agreed.

And nothing went wrong that day because things were the way they should be. But even sparkling things fade in the dark. And though they did not know it at the time, the too young nomads whose fire burnt so bright would too soon be burnt out.

* * *

Relationships are a funny thing, Aureole decided, because they were happy and confusing. But being confused was something that frustrated Aurie, and made her not happy. But it seemed that everything and anything involving Meelo made the little air girl happy as of late. She felt more complete with Meelo and Meelo felt more complete with Aureole.

When he had been traveling around the world he always had this aching feeling of searching, looking back now he finds it ironic that the whole time he'd been traveling, the years of it, all he had to do was visit another air temple to find what he'd been looking for. For both of them it was like discovering another part of themselves, the world made more sense and there was a sort of comfort both found in the presence of the other. For once in her life Aureole felt centered and the timing was perfect.

She was very close to her 26th examination in front of an elder counsel; thanks to Meelo's help and her own natural ability she was confident that she would pass it easily. The only thing that seemed to be lacking lately was her contact with Sister Ling, her teacher had been up in her rooms or the library, deep in the archives where Aurie couldn't find her.

That's what Aureole is up to at the moment actually, going through the tall books cases of the library looking for Ling. The Eastern Air Temple was known for having a vast library full of scrolls from all around the world. And the selections were endless; they ranged from bending techniques to historical documents to love stories and legends. Aureole was particularly fond of an Earth Kingdom legend about two lovers and a tunnel they built so they could see each other.

The tall structure had windows on the ceiling that let sunlight filter through the dust and gave the library a shadowy brightness, sometimes it could be disorienting to be in. The shadows were tall and the shelves all looked the same. As a little girl, Aureole and the other little air benders would play in the archives and they would often find themselves lost.

Half way through another long row a scrolls Aureole decided to stop and call out to her teacher, her name echoed and bounced off of the walls. Waiting until the last far off echo sounded Aureole heard nothing and continued her search.

"Crazy old woman," She muttered walking briskly down the hall, "She probably got lost in here days ago and is eating the scrolls to keep alive."

Slowing down to stop and blowing a piece of hair out of her eyes Aurie pursed her lips in boredom and looked to the wall of stories next to her. She did the only natural thing to do when paused next to a shelve full of scrolls and decided to grab one.

"_The Art of Love_," Aurie raised an eye brow skeptically, "Yeah right." She opened the scroll and started reading.

It was a love story, she smiled. Aurie skipped ahead and skimmed the text, took note of the events, and as time passed she engrossed herself in reading. The story was about a poor peasant artist who fell in love with a Princess.

'He fell in love with her at first sight, how romantic," She thought, 'Aww he told her he loved her, Oh look! They kissed and...and dear spirit mother...what...what are they DOING?'

Her face turned beat red, but she didn't stop reading. Porn, there was freaking _porn_ in the midst of a respectable TEMPLE. People came here for a spiritual awakening not a _sexual _awakening! What pervy monk put this here?

The more interesting thing, however, was that although she felt horrified at first to even be reading the passionate and incredibly illicit love affair of a princess and a peasant artist, Aureole continued to read the story. All of it. Even the risqué scenes, in fact, she liked the story. The steamy situations the princess and the artist would put themselves in were exciting and new and _dangerous_. It made her feel like a rebel, like she was doing something forbidden.

"Whatcha readin'?" A voice asked from above her.

'Oh shit." She thought, Aurie hadn't noticed time passing until she took note that the shadow she had been sitting under had turned to light. When she looked up she immediately closed the scroll.

It was Meelo.

Of course _Meelo _would show up when she was reading (and enjoyably reading) _porn. _

"It's—uh, nothing." She smiled prettily up at him from where she was sitting on the floor. "Just boring old stuff about the...fire nation. And all the wars, that, they...um fight," she finished lamely.

"Oh that's cool!" He grabbed for the scroll to look but Aureole quickly put it behind her back and out of his reach. He was sitting down across from her at an angle and pouting,

"Hey, why can't I see it?" His curiosity was officially peaked; he had to see the scroll now.

"Because..." She was searching for an answer and trying not to be distracted by Meelo and his good looks and how close he was to her...especially after reading all of those steamy love scenes, oh spirits, Aureole's face heated up, she should not mix her Meelo thoughts with _those _thoughts right now.

"Because...?" Meelo prompted her again before reaching out and trying to snatch it from behind her back.

"Hey," Aurie grabbed his wrist lightly before he could take the scroll, "None of that...it's just really boring and I would hate for your mind to be spoiled but dry literature."

"I don't mind." He said smiling and reaching for the scroll again.

"B-but you should!" She jumped up and away from his prying hands, "You should never subject yourself to things that are less than quality material." Meelo stood up and crossed his arms,

"You're acting funny. That scroll isn't about the fire nation, is it?" Detective Meelo has checked into the building. Aureole narrowed her eyes and was about to respond when Meelo pointed her behind her and shouted,

"What's that!" She turned her head startled and Meelo quickly snatched the scroll away from her. She jumped to get the scroll back but Meelo flew up in the air with the scroll open and all Aurie could do was watch mortified as Meelo read the wonderful porn.

And after a few seconds Meelo looked up with a devilish, teasing smirk, to see Aureole with her head in her palm,

"Why innocent Aurie, I didn't know you read this kind of stuff."

"I don't, I was just looking through the shelves and I just _happened _to find it there."

"Oh, really?" He asked smiling.

"Yeah, um, really." She replied weakly.

"Did you enjoy it, Aureole?"

"I—well—you see—" She stuttered trying to make herself seem less...enthralled by it.

" Or should I call you 'Princess Meifeng'?" He cut her off and came floating down landing right in front of Aureole. The apples of her cheeks were vibrantly pink as she felt her back hit the shelves behind her and Meelo was barely inches away from her. His dark eyes were burning with something she hadn't seen before, a certain hunger or wanting that made him...irresistible.

"I could be an artist," Meelo said softly as he brushed a dark coppery piece of hair behind her ear, "And paint colorful pictures of you." The warm tips of his fingers left a tingling feeling by her ear. Meelo leaned in and desire swelled in Aureole's throat as her mouth dropped open slightly and she went to lick her bottom lip nervously.

A small, dreamy smile blossomed on her lips; they were going to kiss right now, weren't they? She felt like this is what was supposed to happen before two people kiss; there was romantic lighting, sexual tension, and their faces were so close to each other. All Aurie had to do was lean in a little and their lips would brush. There were so many thoughts bouncing around her head and her heart was beating erratically as Meelo's face came closer towards hers.

But the strangest thing happened. He stopped right before their lips brushed, he was just as nervous as she was—so she closed the gap. Their lips touched softly, Aureole's hands were on Meelo's shoulders and his were on her hips. The air smelled like damp paper and rain water, the sun filtered down in a golden way and a distance one could see Aurie and Meelo's silhouette surrounded by dust particles.

For a first kiss it wasn't as awkward as Aurie though that it would be, their teeth didn't bump, their noses weren't in the way...their eyes weren't open creepily. It was perfect. And then Meelo tightened his grip on her hips and she pulled herself even closer to him as their mouths tentatively moved and tried to become something more passionate without knowing how. Meelo experimentally brushed Aurie's full bottom lip with his tongue making Aurie's cheeks even darker but she felt a rush of exhilaration and both of them became more fervent in their advances. Meelo's hands became tangled in Aurie's hair, Aurie grabbed at Meelo's robes pushing him backwards, and Meelo responded by hoisting Aureole up by her hips and pushing her onto one of the shelves filled with scrolls.

It was getting hot, or maybe it was just Aurie? But her skin felt warm and tingly and there was a fluttering in her chest that made her want to fly. The feeling of Meelo's perfect mouth on her soft lips was intoxicating and raw. Meelo moved his hands to cup her face and went to pull away but Aureole caught him by surprise and gently bit his lower lip to keep him in place and then kissed him again. Then she pulled away to lean her head against the back of the shelf and Meelo dipped his head below her chin and softly brushed his lips against the sensitive skin on her neck sending tingles down her spin.

She moved to start kissing him again Meelo lifted his head back up too enthusiastically and knocked it against the shelf above,

"Ouch..." then out of habit his hand shot up to soothe the bump but collided with the bookshelf again.

"Oh my gosh, Meelo, are you alright? Let me see!" Aurie jumped off the shelf immediately to make sure he was okay...another bad idea because the shelf actually collapsed and about a hundred dusty scrolls came toppling down on the clumsy nomads. Within seconds both Meelo and Aurie were on the floor covered by dusty romance scrolls, Aureole's head popped up from amidst the paper coughing,

"Nice going, Monk Moron." She said, teasing Meelo and swatting gently at his arm. Meelo grinned from ear to ear in the sweet, goofy way that made Aurie's heart flutter and she leaped over the scrolls to catch him in a loose embrace.

"Yeah," He laughed sheepishly with one hand around Aurie and the other scratching the back of his head. "Sorry about that, Princess." Aureole raised one eyebrow and tilted her head smiling,

"I forgive you, peasant."

Meelo frowned comically,"Heeey, that's not fair!"

"I'm sorry," Aureole said standing up, brushing the dust off of her flowy orange pants, "Should I call you Princess Meelo?"

"I dunno, Aurie. Do you really want competition for that princess role?"

"Like you could even compete." Aurie said haughtily as she leant out a hand to help Meelo stand up. Walking out of the pile of old legends Meelo smirked at his pretty, stuck-up girlfriend,

"You're just jealous because I'd make a prettier princess." Aurie rolled her eyes and started fixing her hair,

"How did you know?" She asked sarcastically.

"Just a feeling I get when people are envious of my good looks and charm." He wiggled his eyebrows and smirked. They were walking towards the entrance of the library and Aureole nudged him playfully with her elbow once her hair was back in place. As they neared the entrance Meelo spun Aureole around and she felt her back against a wall again with Meelo's lips hovering a whisper away from hers,

"How mad do you think you'd get," Meelo said softly into Aurie's ear, "If I messed up your hair again?" Aureole was glowing in the new found affection; she looked up sparkly-eyed and dazed at Meelo, she said smiling,

"I'm sure you could make it up to me." Meelo leaned his head into kiss her but they heard a shuffling of footsteps and paused to look up,

"...What are you doing?" It was Dechan, without Lhe-mi, standing in the door way looking slightly disturbed. Taking quick action Aurie pushed a respectable distance between herself and Meelo and smile widely at Dechan,

"Nothing, nothing at all."

"Just hanging out in the library." Meelo added pleasantly.

"Yeah, just reading some stories." Aureole assured her sister. Dechan narrowed her eyes, but she decided to accept the answer for now and then ask Lhe-mi about it later...because Lhe-mi was smarter than she was.

Aureole took this time to notice that this was Dechan alone, without her other half, which was odd. This never happened. They were always together. When she took a second look at Dechan's appearance she looked like she had been crying, her large dark eyes were slightly red along the edges and her hair was out of the buns and hung limply around her shoulders.

"What's wrong?" Aureole quickly questioned a million horrific scenarios running through her mind at once, "Where's Lhe-mi? Are you alright? Are you hurt? Is some else hurt?" Dechan only seemed to become more overwhelmed and tears seemed dangerously close to falling over.

"I—umm, well," She said tightly. Aurie was close to an aneurism, she needed to know what was wrong in order to be able to help the situation. She had never seen her sister cry like this before.

"Dechan..." She said meekly. At this point Meelo decided to intervene and he delicately placed a hand on Dechan's shoulder and smiled kindly at her,

"If you tell us what's the matter, little sister, we can help you. It'll be alright," He soothed. Aureole took a second to appreciate how kind Meelo was, she was just so abrasive and Meelo really made people feel safe. Aureole liked that.

Taking a shaky breath in through her nose, Dechan looked up at Aureole with a slight grimace, "Sister Ling is very ill, she's been sick for a while but she never told us," Tears rolled down her cheeks at this point, "Because she didn't want us to worry. But now she's really, really sick and she's been in the infirmary all week. She wanted to see us before she...before she...I just needed to come find you." She held onto Aureole around her waist and cried into her robes and Aureole absently smoothed to hair on top of her head.

It was like a nightmare come into reality. This is why she kept people at an arm's length. Once you let them in completely, once they have your heart, they leave. And she knew that she had to be detached if she ever wanted to master the element of air...but it all seemed so unfair. She loved Sister Ling more than she even knew herself. She was her teacher, care giver, and mother all in one. What was the world going to be like without her in it?

The library became emptier at the thought. Meelo became more scary than exciting. The voices in the room became muted. It was like a hawk-owl had wrapped it's talons around her heart and was squeezing it painfully...it made it hard to breath.

Before she knew it she was being led up the stairs by Dechan and Meelo waited in the hallway. They arrived in front of an intricately carved door. It depicted a scene where the top had air sprites opening the gates to the afterlife, fire spirits were dancing, the earth spirits were sleeping, and the water spirits looked like mermaids gently leading mortal souls towards the top. It was colorless and smooth, made of ivory, it was door that most people went through to die.

"She's right in there," Dechan said quietly and then proceeded to knock softly three times. Lhe-mi opened the door and tried her best to look cheerful.

"Hey, what took ya so long?" She said half-heartedly, "Did Dechan catch ya makin' out with your husband?" A smug look appeared on Aurie's face as she brushed passed Lhe-mi,

"Yeah. She did." Dechan's eye twitched at the memory. And Lhe-mi made a face,

"Ewww, no one needs to see that!"

"You're the one who asked, pervert." Aureole challenged.

"Girls, girls," Sister Ling's voice was less authoritarian at the moment as she lectured her students, "Can we have a few moments of piece before we talk about Aureole and her hotty hubby?"

"He is not my—" Aurie started,

" Yeah, we'll talk about it later." Dechan smiled.

"After she leaves." Lhe-mi added.

"To make kissy faces at her hunky monkey!" Dechan and Lhe-mi giggled enthusiastically as Aureole scowled and Sister Ling smiled.

"This is how I always want to remember things." Ling said fondly. Making all three girls stop bickering immediately and return to the tragedy at hand. All of their faces dropped and they looked as if the world was going to implode at any moment.

"Oh, don't look at me like that," Sister Ling said amusedly, "I am an old woman. I have seen the world, and what a beautiful place it is, I've met wonderful and misguided people, I have loved with all of my heart and seen my children grow up to be strong and kind."

Aureole knew that Sister Ling had two sons and a daughter she visited often. The man who had fathered her children had passed away years ago in an accident. She figured that maybe that was why Sister Ling always had something sad in her eyes. Her sons still traveled and were probably somewhere unreachable and she knew that her daughter lived on the other side of the world. She must miss them terribly at the moment.

All three little nomads sat close to their teacher and leaned their heads against the bed. Sister Ling looked so worn out; she didn't have her normal glow about her.

"I don't want you to die." Aureole admitted in a teary voice. Ling smiled sadly at Aurie and fondly brushed the bangs from her face.

"I know, dear, but you have to be strong. It is the natural cycle of the world, physical bodies die. But I will always be with you in spirit, child. Don't ever forget that. The air that you bend is moved by the spirits of your people."

"It doesn't seem fair." Her eyes began to spill over with tears. "I wish you wouldn't have to leave me, us. I love you, we love you." Aurie wiped her tears with her bare arms.

"Do not let the sorrow weight too deeply on your soul. Sadness never stays sadness for very long, it can quickly turn to anger. Do not admonish the world for working the way it does. Tonight, I will die," She said weakly, "And tomorrow, the sun will rise. Birds will sing. The bison will fly. The lemurs will eat fruit. The world will continue on without me in it."

"Don't say it like that," Aureole was crying, "Don't make it sound like you didn't matter. You did matter, you do matter. The world will _not _be alright." She was sobbing into the side of the bed and her sisters were looking sadly down at their hands.

"Do not be frightened," Ling comforted, "Little air child, what makes the world so upsetting to you?"

"Death!" Aureole admitted, "Dying, being left behind, to not matter to anyone. Parents abandon their children, lovers abandon lovers, life abandons us to death. Nothing is safe, nothing is finite. Everything is shitty and broken."

"Oh dear," Ling said kindly, "There is so much that you do not understand yet."

"Yeah, well if it's anything like this," She motioned to the entire room, the entire situation, "then I don't think I want to understand it."

"This is why you've been bending so badly," Ling laughed, "Once you understand, you'll bend better." Aurie was taken aback for a moment forgetting her sadness,

"I am wonderful at air bending, there is nothing wrong with the way I do it." She said stubbornly.

"Oh," Ling laughed more fully with Dechan and Lhe-mi joining in, "Perhaps you haven't seen yourself lately then." If a vein could burst in her forehead, it would do so right now, Aureole glared so heatedly at her little sisters, she thought she might set them on fire, but they only laughed louder.

"Yeah, yeah, yuck it up. Once I pass my 26th test, then we'll see whose laughing, 15 and 14." She said sneering at their levels.

"Whatever, nerd." Lhe-mi muttered earning a grin from Dechan. And they went on like this, like nothing was wrong, and before they knew it the outside was dark and they had to go to bed.

Sister Ling was dead in the morning.

* * *

Everything happened like Sister Ling said it would. It was actually a beautiful day outside. The sky was clear and so blue it hurt to look at. Birds sang and flowers were blooming and white wispy clouds floated just above the green stone mountains. It was a kind of day that children of the air liked to fly through. But Aurie didn't even know if she was capable of bending at the moment...it was so connected to her spirit and her spirit was so heavy. The grief she felt was like lead in the pit of her stomach and it was messing with all of her chakra flows.

A week passed and she still felt an open stinging wound upon her heart. She didn't really talk to anyone, not even Meelo. Especially not Meelo. He was just another person waiting to be ripped from her. She couldn't handle it. Aurie needed to protect herself from more sorrow; her issues and anxiety with being abandoned were even more severe since Ling's passing.

Ling was the only person who Aurie felt safe around, like a child feels around a mother. Her eyes got watery once more, Aurie felt floaty and heavy at the same time.

'This is why my people are drifters." Arueole thought moodily, "They have nothing to attach themselves to so they end up all over the world with nothing."

She was sitting on a ledge between two pillars in an outside courtyard. The stone was decorated with dark green vines that bloomed beautiful white blossoms, but only in the last week of May. The smell was pungent and sweet and hung in the humid air before summer rain came and took in away. Aureole was watching the rain fall in the gray light that the storm clouds cast.

The weather fit her mood.

The rain drops echoed down the hall ways in a melancholy song and the blowing wind made a faint howling. Death was such an abstract force in her mind, the idea that she will die, that Sister Ling did die...it all seemed so wrong, bitterly unfair and wrong. Aurie felt a draft of wind play with the ends of her bangs and turned when she heard soft, padding echo of footsteps from down the hall way.

It was Meelo.

She made a quick move to fly away, but he had spotted her before she had the chance to flee and pined her in place with a happy smile and sad eyes.

"Hey." He said pleasantly and Aurie's hand came up to wipe away any sort of moisture under her eyes and she tucked a piece of brown-copper hair behind her ear,

"Hey." Aureole responded stiffly, not looking him in the eye.

"I haven't seen you in a while-"

"I've got to g-"

They both started at the same time and paused, waiting for the other to continue,

"You first," Aurie said, Meelo nodded his head. He hadn't seen her or been able to talk to her in almost an entire week. And for a man infatuated a week can seem like a year.

All of her hair was loose and fell in haphazard waves down slightly past her hips. Her mid-drift was bear and her loose orange pants were draped with a yellow sash and wrapped around once and continued up over her shoulder. Her eyes were so sad and the gray seemed pale in comparison to their usual onyx luster.

But hadn't she always had sad eyes?

"You've been crying..." He started softly; Meelo wished that could ease her suffering. He wished that he could console her with some sort of grandeur knowledge, but they were both so young and knew so little of life and death...he was at a loss for words.

"Yes..." She raised an eyebrow, "Thanks Meelo, I thought my eyes were sweating for a minute there."

"Umm, sorry, it's just that-I haven't seen you in what feels like such a long time...and I wish I could make you smile because I know how sad you are, Aurie."

"Well, I'm fine, thank you." Aureole miserably assured him.

"You don't seem fine-"

"Don't you have somewhere to be? Somewhere to go? You've been at the Eastern temple for quite some time now. Several months."

"Yeah, well I was waiting to ask you if you'd like to come with me?" He said sheepishly. He had avoided leaving in the first place because of his unhealthy crush on Aurie and quickly decided that she should be a permanent fixture in his weird life. He figured he could help her master air bending and show her the world at the same time. It wasn't unheard of for nomads to travel during training and he could see no harm in bringing her with him where ever he went...if she decided to follow him or preferably stay beside him.

"I haven't even become an air bending master, I'm several levels away. I couldn't possibly leave before that." Aureole countered lightly.

"I could teach you."

"I have responsibilities here."

"Forget about them."

"I—what—I can't! It's not that easy." She said, her cheeks tinged pink with outrage, a spark fizzled to life in her eyes.

"Sure it is." Meelo said brightly, "Just come with me, please? We can go right now. Fly away and never look back."

"You can't be serious."

"I can."

"No, you can't. You're never serious! Of course you can drop everything and leave at a moment's notice but I can't."

"Why not?"

It was a good question, why couldn't she? What was keeping her here?

Surely, there was Lhe-mi and Dechan but she could send them letters. Yes, she had responsibility...but there were hundreds of ladies waiting to do them if she chose to leave...she was going to one day any way. She just couldn't seem to let go of anything, she held onto the temple, and the bison's, and the sun setting from the window in her room, and the intricate carvings on all the vine coated walls.

She had all her greatest memories on the gardens, she could remember dancing in the dusty light of the library when she was eleven, meeting Lhe-mi and Dechan for the first time and being blown into a water fountain.

Everything she had even been was in the temple. How could she leave? And all of the sudden she became very sad.

"Why would you ask me to do that?" She asked softly. Meelo was taken aback by the sad confusion in her face and the tremble in her lower lip,

"What do you mean? I—Aurie—I just want to be with you. I just want you to be happy and you're not. I know that you're not happy; you can't be, not here. You need to go out, see the world; I can show it to you! Just—just stay with me, run away with me. I could make you happy." Meelo felt strongly, so strongly for her, he just needed her to understand it. But he could feel her slipping through his fingertips.

"I'm not happy?" He saw her face light up with anger, "What the hell do you think you know about me? All you've ever been is interested in how _pretty_ I am. You construct this idea of me and how perfect I am. And, don't lie, because I can see you doing it when you look at me too long." Aureole felt a few tears spill out of her eyes and burn their way down her face.

"That's not true Aurie I—"

"Don't lie! You have an idea of me in your mind of how I'm so beautiful and damaged but _you _can fix me. And fit me into some mold of your 'dream girl.' I'm not a project, I'm a person, you jerk."

Meelo started to panic, hadn't Nawang said something like this months ago when he had first met Aureole?

Yes. Yes he did.

But, dammit, Meelo isn't doing that! Well…maybe at first a little (maybe a lot) but she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and just the way she rolled her eyes at his jokes and how she was always honest…and then when you got her to genuinely smile it was like the while world stopped to see it as well. But then he actually listened to her, she had all this stuff to say and sometimes he didn't really understand it—but he tried and sometimes late at night he would have a revelation to what she had said earlier in the day and just completely agree.

"Don't say that Aurie, I don't do that honestly, I—"

"Oh, whatever." She wiped the tears from her face and glared at the ground by her feet, starting to turn away.

"No, no listen, Aureole!" He pleaded with her as she turned away from him, he felt like his insides were being torn out with every step he knew she was about to take. "I know, I know that I did that at first. I know, but I see you as a person, a normal person that I think that world of—and I wouldn't ever change you."

"Just stop." She said sullenly, sniffling and resting her face inside of her upturned palm. The wind blew past both of them, shuffling the leaves, gently displacing the steady fall of a nearby fountain, the sound echoed noncommittally around the white stone courtyard.

"Don't end it like this." He said gently.

"End what?"

"Us."

"…was there ever an us?" Aureole asked delicately.

"Yes," Meelo said dejectedly in exasperation, "There was, we were, that one time in the library, or when were together watching the sunrise…and so many times watching the sunset. Or when you hit your head against the mountainside and I carried you back up to the temple. We were…we were something then, weren't we?"

"No."

Meelo was the one the walk away this time. He turned suddenly and walked down the stair case that scaled the mountain. Aureole watched him walk away and then went down the hall, and up the spiral stairs to her empty bedroom, she sat on the cushion in front of the cathedral window and watched the wind fall.


	5. Chapter 5

I am so sorry this took so long to upload...I really, really, really am. This is more of an awkward transition of Aurie and Meelo, neither of them know what to do without the other...or they think they do but they really don't. I am already writing the next chapter and it should be up very soon and you may want to anticipate a slight time skip. I appreciate all of the reviews, they really mean the world to me! So thanks to everyone that did. I will probably go over this a few more time and fix any missed typos.

* * *

"Aureole of the Eastern Air Temple, here for here 26th level examination." An old man with a long white beard peered down at Aurie from his elevated seat, he was Monk Rabten. He had a pair of round glasses settled in the middle of his distinguished nose. On either side of him were two other old air nomads, five in total made up this council. They all sat at a long stone table, limestone by the looks of it, carved along the sides were swirls of air filled in by gleaming silver.

The ceilings were impossibly high, and long, thick, green vines hung in from the open, round rooftop in the center of the room. The high noon sun cast sharp shadows throughout the room and the long cathedral windows shone a brilliant white color in the brightness. There was no glass in the windows; the air flowed freely about the large open room, and the vines danced around in the warm breeze.

Sister Norbu smiled kindly down at Aureole as she nervously shifted on the balls of her feet. Her hair was long and dark gray in color, she wore a vibrant set of orange and blue beads with the air insignia connecting in the middle. Monk Palden and Monk Sangye wore similar bored expressions on their faces and both seemed to have eaten too many fruit pies causing them to grow rounded cheeks. Monk Yonten sat beside Sister Norbu and looked impossibly cheerful, his grin was unnervingly painted across his bronzed face, ear to ear.

"Yes, Monk Rabten." Aurie replied politely as she bowed respectfully towards her elders. She was nervous, not because she doubted her ability, but because there would be important people watching her. With this test, if she performed well enough, she could get moved up two levels at once. But if she failed it—if she let her nerves get to her she could be stuck in the same place, studying the same things, for another year.

"Whenever you are ready to begin dear." Sister Norbu said sweetly. Aureole swallowed the last bit of hesitation as she took a step back under the light from the sunroof; she took a breath in, calling the wind towards her and releasing the air around her into smooth controlled channels, circling around her in breathtaking movements. The minutes seemed like seconds and then Aurie was high in the air, the wind rotating in orbit horizontally crossing her mid-section and vertically above her head. The channels of air met perfectly in the middle and she hovered in the air for a few moments before slowly descending onto the white tile floors. The winds returned to their original pathways and the room was quite.

"Remarkable," Yonten said excitedly, "I knew this one was remarkable, didn't I? I know that I said something of the sort right when I heard her name, I _knew _it." He spoke with a soft voice and stressed the "_t_" sounds in his speech. Yonten was known to be friendly, but strongly humored even amongst Air nomads who were known for their sense of humor.

A frowning Palden absentmindedly smoothed his hand over his forehead, "You were talking about fire-ferrets." The look Monk Palden gave Yonten was incredulous and fiercely annoyed, "Before she entered, you were saying how you want to train one and run a circus of small animals."

"What a marvelous idea, Monk Palden! I only wish I had thought of it first." Yonten said merrily. Palden's face was turning an interesting shade of red when Sister Norbu looked up from her notes,

"Little sister, you did very well! Ling certainly did a wonderful job teaching you balance and form. The movements you made were beautiful, but—"

"They lacked power." Rabten finished. His voice was deep and full, the noise rang off the walls over and over again; like the echoes of Aureole's mistakes were haunting her. Aurie's spirit immediately dropped, although, she did not show this on her face. She took a breath to remain poised.

"I disagree," Sangye said. "I feel she used appropriate force. This is only a demonstration, she is in no real danger that she must defend herself from. There is talent in her bending, the only reason it is suffering is because she is not at ease. Spontaneity leaves room for much improvement in this regard. She will grow into this in time." His long grey beard was braided loosely; brown and blue beads were strung on to the end of it.

"I move to let her pass to her 27th level. I think she will grow to be a very powerful bender, she needs only a chance to prove herself." Yonten said seriously. The council grew quite in thought for a moment. It was uncommon for Yonten to speak so highly of a person without at least a little sarcasm. As they grew quite Aureole grew anxious; she looked at the serious Rabten, the irate Palden, and it may have been her imagination but Aureole would swear even today that Monk Sangye and Sister Norbu were giving each other _the eye_. Monk Yonten was starring dreamily out the window and drawing something on his parchment paper, Aurie felt her eyes twitch; these people were insane.

* * *

Air is an impressive element. This very subject was the topic in the Fire Nation capital amongst the Fire Lord and his army generals. Secret plans were underway. Plans to conquer and rule the world as a supreme ruler of the four elemental lands. Fire is the element of power, it is the nature of fire to consume and grow. Fire evaporates water, scorches the earth, and burns the air. Fire Lord Sozin had it set in his mind that fire should rule all other elements.

They were in a palace room in the capitol of the Fire Nation. The ceilings were high and were draped in deep red silk and gold leaf pattern wall paper. The wood was a dark mahogany and the chamber was warm enough to keep a group of fire benders happy. A large black marble fire place was kept continually hot and the burning throne was one room over, the residual heat leaked into the council meeting. It was a group of well-groomed noble men all dressed in military armor. Some had inherited their title and were very young allowing them the luxury of a military position without any combat experience. Imposing pictures of Fire Lords from the past hung on either sides of the walls and there large dark eyes bored into the backs of the generals.

"Air," Sozin addressed his military council, "Is the biggest threat to our empire's expansion." In front of him and the men, on the table, was a map of the world with module soldiers to mark military positions and advancements.

"My lord," General Wufeng countered, "The nomads are peaceful monks. They do not believe in war or physical violence beyond self-defense. I cannot see a threat in their passivity. They think all life is sacred; even that of their enemy's."

Sozin smirked knowingly, he had anticipated this response. The council of firebending nobility had not seen much action in battle, as this was a peaceful time and most were young. But, Fire Lord Sozin knew what morals men would break under the right derision.

"General Wufeng, you are correct that these nomads are peaceful and will not attack, even when provoked, except to avoid injury. But, let me propose this situation to you. There is a dog, he has never bit anyone or shown any kind of violence toward humans, even when it's master has kicked it. But on one night a drunken man with a knife has come to hurt the dog, simply because he can. This dog is now in a corner, the man has his knife out and this animal can sense he will be killed. My question, Wufeng, is what do you think this dog will do?"

There was a pregnant silence that hung in the air. The general's looked to one another; their Lord was in a strange mood. They did not know whether to be worried or not. His temper could be unpredictable. Especially when he had _this _look on his face; his intelligent dark eyes and old crinkled eyes that held contempt and ambition were twinkling.

"I suppose, my Lord," Wufeng began his reply timidly; "The dog would bite." Sozin flashed a grin, Wufeng almost let out a breath of relief; he had answered appropriately.

"Correct," the Fire Lord praised him with a slight mocking edge, "Why is it, though?"

"My Lord…?"

"Why does the dog bite?" Sozin clarified.

"Instinct I suppose, Fire Lord."

"Yes, instincts doctrine animal life, don't they?" He posed the rhetorical question and his council all replied with a nod and a vocal queue that they understood, "As it is, although we are at the top of the food chain as of now, humans are also animals. And we have instincts." The realization began to dawn on the faces of his council immediately.

"Fire needs oxygen to survive, and the Air Nomads control this. A man's lungs are full of air, oxygen flows in our very blood; we need this in order to live. The Airbenders have a destructive capability beyond what we can imagine. We are lucky that they are so peaceful, as lucky as we are that the waterbenders are so lazy and the earthbenders are so stupid. Fire alone is superior to all the elements. We are meant to rule."

Most generals were swayed, these things all made sense. And a fear began to develop inside of their minds, what if the other nations were planning the same sort of hostile takeover? They needed to protect themselves and their families—and even beyond that they understood that the Fire Lord needed to protect his people. It made sense to go after the airbenders first, they posed the greatest threat. Then the Water Tribe, only for the taboo fear of blood bending; and then the Earth Kingdom, with no allies they would have to surrender or risk the thousands of fiery deaths.

"The Avatar is getting older and he cannot prevent my plans in the way he could when he was younger. I feel it in my bones, his days are numbered. We must plan, within the next decade our attack on the Air Nomads, it must be done swiftly and brutally. No mercy must be shown, because each and every one of them is a bender, they all must die. The Avatar must _not _get in the way, not in reincarnation and in killing all the airbenders the cycle can be broken. We will hunt him down, in each of his new lives and destroy him."

* * *

Heartbreak is supposed to only last half the time that the love endured. So since Meelo was in love with Aurie for six months before she dismissed his feelings, effectively tearing out his heart and eating it, he should have been over it in three months…or at least that's what he heard. After the Aurie catastrophe he had come crawling back to his best friend Nawang who was traveling through the Earth Kingdom with his sisters Hua and Ju. The girls had been the ones to console Meelo's bleeding heart by telling him there was a light at the end of the table. Nawang had been supportive at first, but eventually told Meelo, "I told you so."

Meelo agreed that he had…Nawang told Meelo that she looked mean and from an outside perspective she really did look kind of stuck up. But no one had known this girl like Meelo had—he was convinced of this. He spent the spring and summer with her, they would talk all of the time, bend together, meditate together, and they laughed all of the time. She crinkled her nose when she smiled and when she was bored she would organize the rocks she saw in front of her. They would walk together in the humid forests and delight in catching glimpses of the colorful birds.

They once took Lhe-mi and Dechan down to a pool of water the girls had found years ago and Meelo thought it was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. The water was a cloudy turquoise color but the bottom was perfectly clear. Rose quartz could be found all around the edges of the water and on the floor of the deep pond. It was an area where a river flowed into before continuing down-stream. They blew the wind to pick up some of the water and laughed pretending to be waterbenders.

Meelo would tell her stories of where he had been, he knew she loved those. He thinks the way he told them is what sparked Aureole's further interest in him as a person rather than just a teacher to help her bending improve. When he thought of Aureole he thought of tropical forests and sunsets, fruit trees, and the sound that a breeze made going through cathedral windows with bright blue skies.

He fell in love with Aurie and she didn't even know it, but he was in love. He was sure of it. Meelo had never been in love before— and once she had let down her guard a little, he thought that she had felt the same way or at least was starting to. He had been so afraid to screw things up with this girl that he felt unnaturally drawn to that he kept most of his feeling to himself; he didn't want to come on to strong. Yet the only way Meelo could describe his feelings was to compare them to violent current of air. Her eyes haunted him in his saddest moments, watery and gray—like looking into a rain cloud and the color of her hair was like sunlight filtered through clear bottles filled with dark tea.

Meelo took Kumo, his flying bison, and traveled with Nawang across the Western Earth Kingdom. Hua and Ju were both so funny, and also very pretty—but both of them had a significant other so Meelo had no chance, not that his heart would have really been into either of them. They flew across the green, hilly landscapes of the Northern Earth Kingdom and visited many ornate temples along the way. Each temple had an intricately detailed bell that was wrung to signal times of prayer; the bells were forged by earth bending jewelry crafters and the colorful gems that glittered from the dark gold bells seemed to grow from the metal rather than having been placed there by an artist.

They slept under an open sky, the star light was so intense at times he thought that it was day break, he found peaceful solitude amongst the great and tall trees inside of the ancient forests; these forests were cold and dark—and different kind of beauty than the ones by the Air Temples that were usually warm and colorful.

The most beautiful seaside village held a festival to celebrate the Avatar while Meelo and his companions were passing through and they all agreed to stay for a while and celebrate with the friendly locals. The town was mostly made up of fishermen and merchants, so there was plenty of wealth and interesting conversation.

The ocean was a grey blue kind and the water was cold; there were stories of beautiful water nymphs being borne from the sea foam and taking lost children into the water to live with them. There was also folk lore about women who were half fish that could shed their outer skin and walk on the land. A group of children sat and told Meelo this on the beach; the mermaidens were said to have light hair and grey eyes, sometimes blue. They enchanted men and lured them to the bottom of the ocean with their voices. They weren't all bad though, some fishermen are able to find their fish skin and hid it from them, the maidens usually marry these men, they can even come to love them and have their children. But the moment they find their skin, they go back to the sea, nothing is more tempting that the ocean.

"That sounds like a girl I know…" Meelo muttered bitterly. One of the boys looked up, his wide brown eyes widened in horror,

"What'dya mean by that?" All of these kids have to have been between five and nine years old but Meelo's head was elsewhere,

"It sounds like her. Grey eyes, light hair, drowning men in a bottomless pit, like the ocean…leaving at the most opportune moment despite how she feels because she's afraid of her own feelings," He was about to say more when he looked around at the village boys looking at him with disbelief,

"So," An older one piped up, "You want us to believe you fell in love with a mermaid…?"

"Whatta weirdo," he heard from his left, it came from a dark skinned kid with frizzy black hair.

"Maybe he drank too much," One offered. He got smacked in the head lightly by the six-year-old that spoke originally,

"It's too early for that stupid," He didn't have any front teeth so his insult came out with a lisp,

"Nu-uh," Another one chimed in, "My pops starts drinking earlier than this sometimes if him and my mom start fightin'."

"No, no that's not it!" Meelo laughed and scratched the back of his head a little embarrassed, "You guys might not understand it right now but one day a special girl is going to come into your lives," this was met by a murmur of _ewwws, _"No really," Meelo laughed, "Believe me she will and she'll be beautiful and make you smile all of the time for no reason. And then," His voice became miserable again, "She'll rip out your heart and stomp on it."

"What?!" There was a collective alarm among the boys. Girls were stupid and played with dolls, they couldn't rip out hearts.

"Trust me," He shook his head, "They'll rip it out and then toss it around a few times and then she'll leave you bloody and broken…and you know what the worst part it?"

None of them spoke for a moment but then the wide brown eyed boy, Lee hesitantly asked, "What?" Meelo sighed and then replied,

"Even after all of that all you'll wanna do is see her again."

"That's really lame, man." Said the older kid with frizzy hair. "There are tons of other ladies; that's what my brother told his girlfriend after she broke up with him."

"Really?" Meelo asked hopefully. All of the boys nodded, they each shared their own stories of girls who wouldn't leave them alone or what their older brothers and fathers told them about women.

"If she doesn't see how great you are, dude," Said the six year old Lee, "Then she doesn't deserve you anyway."

"You think so?" They all nodded in agreement, "…do you think she'd still take me back though, if I—" Frizzy black hair kid, Shen, interrupted him.

"You can't do that to yourself. You gotta move on. Think of the old girl as a foreign ship that sailed home for its motherland. Gone forever. But there are other ships in the harbor." This was followed by a chorus of _"Yeah, man"_ and pats on the back by the kids. They had to go after though, because their moms wanted them home for dinner. Meelo was left brooding by the ocean, watching blue waves crash in front of a bright red sunset. Meelo through a rock with his air bending as far as he could get it...and when he heard a ships window crack he got the hell off the beach and headed for the inn he and his friends were staying at.

* * *

Wen was possibly the prettiest air nun that had ever existed. She was bubbly and sweet with huge golden brown eyes and long silky black hair; her skin was like cream with a dash of dark teaand a long slender nose that made her seem regal. Not at all like Aureole who had a dust of freckles across her cheeks and a small button nose; her dark copper hair was oddly colored and to coarse to be called soft. The only thing worse than Wen's obnoxious beauty, was her outstanding talent. She was only a few years older than Aurie and had already passed her master exams and her tattoos were healed. Aureole was currently stuffing her mouth with fruit cakes and frowning in Wen's general direction.

"If you eat to many of those you'll get a tummy ache." Dechan chided sarcastically. Lhe-mi was one of the stupid girls fawning all over Wen, laughing at her dumb jokes and listening to her dumb stories. Dechan had decided to stick by Aurie; she wasn't the type to idolize anyone but herself. Aureole stuffed more food into her face,

"Shudap." She grumbled, little crumbs spilling onto her face and the top of her robes. Dechan narrowed her eyes and haughtily turned away,

"I would tell you that eating to many of those will make you fat," Aureole almost choked in outrage, "But I wouldn't want you to get a complex." Swallowing the rest of the cake, Aureole grabbed for her banana mango juice and took a gulp,

"Don't be a brat." Dechan just sniffed and then their attention turned to the laughing of the other girls that were surrounding Wen. And with all of the action happening so close by, can you blame a girl for eavesdropping?

"The earth kingdom was my favorite, the men in fire nation are so bossy," She laughed like it was her very own inside joke. "But it's nice to be around other air benders, especially when you're so far away from home." Her willowy frame sat at the base of the temples largest fountain. It was made of white granite and the base had a swirling pattern craved into it, the water was clear and reflected off of Wen's perfect skin in a translucent pattern. Bright orange and yellow koi fish swam around in circles and nipped at the green lily pads and the purple flowers bobbed up and down from the constant movement. Wen's ridiculous fairytale hair was so long that it touched the top of the water and when she laughed a curtain of it came out of the fountain and drew patterns on the dry stone.

"So," One of the other nomad girls around Aurie's age smiled playfully, "Did you meet anyone special?" They all giggled at once, the crowd had died down to only the older girls and Aureole was motioned over to join them. She sat next to Momoko, a shy brunette girl, and listened to Wen's soft voice tell thrilling tales.

"Yes," Her cheeks turned a soft petal pink and she bashfully laughed, "It was at a festival in the Earth Kingdom, he was traveling with another monk and his sisters. He's very funny, and I think he fell in love with me." She sighed in a dreamy way, looking up into the clear blue sky.

"How long did you stay with them?" Momoko asked smiling. Love stories were by far a favorite among the nuns who were cooped up the entire year in an all-girls temple.

"Only a week," Aureole rolled her eyes, "But that's all it took. When love demands two hearts to beat as one, nothing in the world can stop it." Aureole scoffed,

"Who is it that you fell in love with?" One of the girls asked, "What was the monk's name?" A chorus of questions rang out after that. Was he handsome? How old was he? Did he leave her anything?

"He is very handsome, the same age as I am. It's perfect really, like fate designed us for each other." There was a moment's pause and all of the girls leaned in, "His name was Meelo." An awkward air settled around them that all but Wen could notice. As she went on and on describing Meelo, Aureole's Meel, the girls all looked over to see Aureole's eye twitch.

"You're kidding me." Aureole interrupted. The girls all looked nervously down at their hands and Wen looked down from her perfect perch, tilting her head innocently,

"What was that?" She asked helpfully, expecting a demand for more details. Instead she saw a girl with dark copper hair looking at her like she had a lemur eating noodles on her head.

"You're talking about Southern Air Temple, Meelo?" She nodded her head at Aurie, sensing a funny look in her eye.

"Yes, did you know him?" Aureole immediately turned red and looked down. She reprimanded herself in her head for even saying anything.

"Errm, yeah. He was my best friend for a little while. He helped me train for the exams I took a few months ago…" Wen felt a little rock drop in her stomach and smiled at Aurie, shrugging her shoulders,

"Really? He never mentioned you." Of course this stung, right in her heart. Aureole tried not to think of Meelo…she felt so much regret with him. She did everything possible to avoid the mention of him or thinking of him even though sometimes, like when she was trying to fall asleep, that's all she could do. Think of his stupid smile that made her heart melt or the way his eyes lit up when he saw her; she thought about how warm his hands always were and how whenever he touched her, which for the most part was accidentally, she felt like a million lights were bursting beneath her skin. Aureole was about to reply when Ume decided to fly down and crash in to her lap,

"Yeah, well—gah!" Ume in all of his flying lemur grace blinked his large green eyes up at her before taking the fruit from the bowl next to her and eating. Aureole cursed her luck and her idiot Ume and when she looked back up at Wen to continue her verbal assault she was turned to leave.

"Well, I am going to retire for a while. I am exhausted." Wen seemed relieved to be parting and she went up to her room with the intent to write a certain friend a very important letter. Aureole pouted in a not so cute way and glared as Wen left, elegantly walking like she was floating in the air; her hair was as dark as night and trailed after her romantically twirling in the breeze.

"Well," Momoko smiled sheepishly to Aurie, "At least we know that Meelo is doing…um, well." Momoko was one of the only other sisters that Aurie talked to about Meelo. She had always been worried that after their fight, Meelo and gone off and done something stupid. Aureole painfully swallowed her jealous rage and agreed with Momoko,

"Yes, at least we know he's safe." Aurie's mind continued to race, _"Because the next time I see the slimy bastard I'm going to—going to…"_She didn't even know. How could she be mad at him for moving on…she had basically left him with nothing…telling him that he meant nothing to her. But that was so far from the truth. Looking back she wished she could have told herself that she was acting far too brazenly. Unfortunately one cannot change the past and wanting to do so is a waste of energy; one can only accept things how they are and seek change or peace. Seeing that Meelo had done so motivated Aurie to stop moping and maybe smile a bit more.


	6. Chapter 6

The next chapter is going to get pretty exciting ;D

And thanks so much for reviewing, Alaburn, Katchile94, Power of Fiction, Coolera, avatarmaddy, Abbl2, and everyone who doesn't have an account! Everything you say is so thoughtful. I feel honored that you guys take breaks between reading to tell me your opinions and stuff :)

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"I think I'm dying." Meelo was lying down miserably on his back inside of a polar bear dog skin hut. The air out side was silver and frigid but inside of the safe medicine tent the air was warm and smelled of bitter herbs. He and Nawang had traveled to the Southern Water Tribe to observe one of the celestial light festivals.

"Don't be such a baby," Nawang grumbled. He sat next to his friend who was pathetically coughing every few minutes and groaning in discomfort. Meelo's face was drained of color and covered in a light sheen of sweat; the medicine woman had kindly put a cool cloth on his forehead. Meelo thought of the blue ice burgs and cerulean ocean in an attempt to keep his mind off of the pain in his stomach and the soreness of his muscles whenever he moved.

The Water Tribes were striking visually because there was no other place Meelo had ever seen to be so white and motionless but at the same time so blue, teaming with spiritual energy and restless life. The people there were easy going and community was held in the highest importance. Out in the cold tundra a helping hand and welcoming village could be the difference between life and death. Long ago, before even the last Water Tribe born avatar, the Northern and Southern poles had been places of chaos and war. Wolves the size of platypuses-bears were ridden out to battle and fed on the frozen flesh of fallen warriors. Before the poles were sisters they were bitter enemies; although the distance between them was great the struggle for dominance in their element was greater. Legends still circulate that some battle fields, long forgotten by the peaceful people, are still black and red with blood, frozen into the icy snow. The festival of lights is to celebrate the long period of peace and prosperity between the great tribes and to assert their unity.

That night the sky was full of green and purple lights that hung high in the air with the silver stars and the pearly moon. Colorful glass bottles were made into light fixtures and placed around fire to mimic the constellations. The air was filled with sounds of grease fizzling and popping, children laughing, and people singing; the smell of boiling seaweed stews, frying meat, and steaming vegetables wafted into Meelo's nostrils making his mouth water. Special sweets were made from red candied fruits that grew only in the scarce dirt fields during the summer and cups filled with dark winter wine were handed out freely. Girls with purple stained mouths and heavy blue tunics embroidered with silvery white thread were chased by tall muscled men with sacred warrior tattoos swirling up their arms. Strings of blue paper lanterns were hung by poles and made the surrounding area seem aquatic. The heat from all of the fires generated enough heat for the area of the festival to be comfortably brisk.

Having had far too much to drink, Meelo found himself drunk and surrounded by a few pretty Water Tribe girls and telling his tragic love story to anyone who would listen,

"She ripped out my heart," The girl with pale blue eyes patted his back. "And then ate it." He sat back up straighter and sniffed his sadness away, "But I will not weep for her anymore. There are plenty of fish in the sea," He smiled charmingly at both of the laughing girls, "And tonight I am surrounded by mermaids."

Nawang rolled his eyes in embarrassment. Meelo was the sloppiest drunk in the world; he started talking like he was a character in a cheesy romance play and couldn't stop between the two extremes of crying over Aureole and chasing any girl that walked past him. Kalea and Kiri were currently putting up with his fervent temper and sobbing mood swings, Nawang was pretty sure Kiri was hanging around because she was interested in him but Nawang's sisters were with him and that made having fun with girls more difficult; which was a shame because Kiri was really pretty, most of her features were dark but her eyes stood out in a striking way, like two blue stars in a dark sky.

"Maybe you should slow down there, buddy." Nawang tried with no avail as Meelo downed another glass of the warm red wine.

"Oh, be nice," One of the girls said, "He is nursing a broken heart." Nawang snorted and rolled his eyes, making the girls laugh even louder. He knew they were just bored and Meelo's drunken enthusiasm entertained them.

"It didn't seem that way a few weeks ago, with that other girl, Wen." He leaned forward, "Remember, Meelo?" Wen was totally in love with Meelo. Nawang thought Meelo should have gone for it; Wen was sweet and agreeable and possibly one of the most beautiful girls that he had ever seen; just a little too young for Nawang's taste. But she was perfect for Meelo, hell she was _interested _in Meelo! Even with all of Meelo's moping and angst she saw through and somehow, _somehow, _was still interested in being around him.

It had been at another festival their party attended in the Earth Kingdom in a small coastal town that profited mostly off of fishermen and tourism. Wen had been traveling by herself; she said that she practiced healing arts and was a midwife; she used her job as a way to spread the nomad traditions. When she had seen his sisters Wen said that she was delighted because she hadn't seen any of her own people for months and that they were a sight for sore eyes.

"I'm on my way to the Eastern Air Temples to meet up with a few of my friends, and then we were going off the Fire Nation to hear the Avatar speak and visit the Fire Sages." When she had met Meelo he had been in low spirits but was pleasant enough to be around; he always kept a positive attitude. She took an immediate liking to him; all week they were inseparable. Wen had purchased a messenger hawk years ago and he followed her anywhere as her constant companion and she insisted that once she and Meelo were gone from one another that exchange letters regularly. Meelo didn't really mind…she was nice and all but anyone could tell his heart wasn't in it. Nawang's sisters had encouraged the relationship, preferring Wen to Aureole because a girl like Wen would never break anyone's heart. Not that Nawang blamed Aurie…Meelo was quick to fall in love and he put Aureole on this unrealistic pedestal from the start but if she really wasn't interested she could have at least told Meelo before he spent a little over half a year training with her.

And now look at him, Nawang's brown eyes shifted to see Meelo playing a small stringed instrument and singing a pleasant sounding melody. A group of people around his age had gathered around, they were passing around a smoking pipe and blew rings out of the vapor. When it was passed to Meelo he used a bit of bending and a ton of talent to form the white smoke into the form of a dragon. A few people laughed in delight and others complimented him as he made the dragon do a few tricks and twist in between a few rings before dissipating into the frigid air.

"It's raining," A girl commented with a frown; they were inside of tent right now but would soon be kicked out and sent back home. The rain would surely turn too snow and soon the night would be too cold for safety. The fire in the middle cast dark shadows on all of their faces and he could see the flames flicker in the reflection from Meelo's eyes—he felt haunted by the memory of that girl…she must have been something.

The ceremonial drumming began to fade and the festival quickly dispersed; venders closed their carts, performers went to their hotels, and the locals headed to their homes. Nawang was walking to the Inn they all were staying at when he noticed that his drunken buddy was not beside him. Meelo had gone out into the rain—just standing under it looking up into the sky. He was completely soaked, all of the layers of his clothing were dripping cold water and he still just stood their stupidly—looking up into the swirling blue and white clouds.

"What are you doing!?" Nawang called out from under a tent, he wasn't going out into that rain unless it was completely necessary. Seeing no response from Meelo, he called out the same question once more. This time he finally got Meelo to look up, his eyes were so sad and he gave his friend a sad little smile. Nawang wanted to roll his eyes but he couldn't, Meelo was like a little brother to him and it didn't make him happy to see Meelo so sad.

"Come on, man, get out of the rain! You'll get sick!" Meelo shrugged his shoulders and then headed over towards the tent.

"What the hell were you doing?" Nawang gave him a little shove on the arm. Meelo looked up and tried smiling again,  
"Would it make any sense if I said I didn't know?" Meelo had gotten lost in a garden of thought. He wondered why it hurt so much to be away from Aureole. Some cosmic was pushing him towards her no matter how hard he tried to pull away. It made him angry sometimes to be the only one who felt that way; Aureole had been quick enough to toss him aside and go on her merry way. He wished that he could do that—just pick up and leave and never think about her again. But that was not who Meelo was—he was thoughtful and kind. His openness which seemed so odd in the outside world was admired by the nomad community because his emotions were free like the air; he used his emotions as a tool with his bending—that's what made him so accomplished.

"Do I need to be worried about you, Meelo?" Nawang asked hesitantly. Water dripped off of Meelo's nose,

"I just want to see her again—why do you—" Meelo looked over at his best friend and brother with a look of sad confusion, "What made her not love me?" Nawang did not know what to say, so he patted Meelo on the back and lead him back to the warmth of the Inn…and let his sisters handle his poor friend's feelings. Not that Nawang didn't have anything to say; but most of it consisted of bashing on Aureole and he knew that wasn't what Meelo needed. Needless to say, standing in that freezing cold rain for such a long time (even a short time) had given Meelo a fever.

And this is what landed Meelo here, in a medicine hut, horribly ill. Hua and Ju saw an opportunity; they went to fetch Wen so that she could heal Meelo. They figured that Wen coming to take care of Meelo in his time of need would rekindle interest and spark romance between Wen and Meelo. Nawang chastised them for playing match maker and not minding their own business but they rarely listened to him anyway. The girls went on their way to the Eastern Air Temple and Nawang was stuck on Meelo duty.

"You're not dying you idiot. You stood out in the _arctic rain _for who knows how long and now you've got a fever. One that you'll live through." Meelo groaned and shifted slightly under the heavy blankets that covered his tall form.

"If you're not going to be nice to me in my final hours on this earth then leave." Nawang rolled his eyes and scoffed,

"Go to sleep."

* * *

Wen brushed her long hair absentmindedly and looked in the silver mirror. She was scowling; Meelo did say that Aureole was very pretty. She had hoped it was the disillusionment of a broken heart but meeting his dream girl early had crushed these hopes. As Wen began braiding her ridiculous fairy tale princess hair her mind drifted to Meelo. He was definitely her type—charismatic, good looking; accomplished…the list went on and on. They would be perfect together, a force to be reckoned with, a symbol of youth and power among their community. All Wen ever had wanted to be was admired. But getting Meelo to fall in love with her was not going as smoothly as she thought it would.

He was in love with that girl—still; the one with the dark coppery hair and bright grey eyes. Her face reminded Wen of the moon, so round and dewy—dusted with fairy freckles and rosy cheeks. It was the sad eyes, Wen decided, that made her so appealing. They made men want to save her when she was in no danger. Aureole was probably a pretty crier_—little insect_. As much as Wen wanted to not feel any hostility she could not help it—no one had ever stood in the way of something she wanted before.

But now was different, now she had competition—the worst kind. Aureole was the kind of girl that was not easy to forget but hard to remember. She haunted poor Meelo's thoughts; Wen decided she needed to break Aureole's spell and set Meelo free.

Free to come into her embrace that is.

She intended to write to Hua and Ju in the morning—to see where exactly they were and ask if she might join them in their travels for the time being.

* * *

Aureole knew that she shouldn't be listening to other people's conversations. She also knew that sneaking into peoples rooms and hiding behind a wardrobe was a very childish and borderline creepy thing to do unless one was placed in the appropriate circumstance.

And dammit if this wasn't one of those.

Two girls had arrived late last night on two separate sky bison; both of them were air bending masters and much older than Aureole and both had come to see Wen. Of course it was too late to go and wake that girl so they were shown to their rooms, but Aureole offered to help and Wen was to be informed in the morning.

It is a strange feeling, Aurie decided, not knowing anything about people but knowing they dislike you. Both women look at Aureole with contempt and said nothing to her as she led them to their rooms. The only reason that Aureole didn't voice her discomfort was because before they had heard Aureole's name she _knew _she heard them say Meelo's and she was too paranoid to believe in consequences at this point so she just _knew _they were talking about her Meelo.

Aureole's original plan had been to just stand outside of the door and listen in on the conversation…but plans quickly changed when she saw Wen leave to get food in the morning, sending Aurie flying up into the air as Wen passed, oblivious to the girl on the ceiling beams above her. Aureole then thought she was safe as she gently landed on her nimble feet but upon seeing two shadows (she knew they were of the late night visitors) and having no immediate place to hide her first instinct was to dash into Wen's open bedroom door and quickly crouch behind the long wooden dresser.

"Hello?" She heard one say; finding that no one (to their knowledge) was in the room both walked in and sat on the bed. The one with her hair in two braids frowned,

"She isn't here."

"We'll just wait for her, she probably went to bathe or get food. She only got here yesterday." The taller one responded yawning.

"I hope she'll be ready to leave shortly, I wouldn't want Meelo dying before she got there." Aureole's eyes immediately began to water,

_ "Meelo," _She thought panicking, "_Dying?" _She forgot to breathe for a moment and covered her mouth with the cup of her hand to muffle any noise she might make.

"He's not dying, Ju." Braid girl said scoffing, "He's only being dramatic because he's a baby." Her heart was still trying to recover from the trauma of Meelo potentially dying as the good news sank in. Hopefully Ju was wrong and Meelo was fine just like the other girl said.

"A broken heart won't help to break his fever, Hua." The other lady said seriously, "I only hope you're right and Meelo will be fine soon. But in the meantime…maybe seeing Wen will bring Meelo some peace."

"Or tear him to pieces. If we really wanted to help him, we'd send that other girl to him." Ju was picking at her finger nails.

"It's _her _fault that he's even in this mess—standing in the freezing rain, moping over _that _girl. It's ridiculous." Hua was fidgeting in annoyance now.

"Oh, I don't know," Ju replied, "I thought she was pretty." Ju laughed then as a thought crossed her mind, "She's rather short though, the height difference with Meelo is funny. He's like a tree!" Aurie frowned indignantly; she was a perfectly normal height. Most Air Nomads were just unusually tall! The rest of the world was the same size as she was.

"Well that sounds accurate," Hua said snootily, "She did cut him down like a tree. Maybe it made her feel taller." Aureole felt wounded deeply—these girls didn't know her…and they definitely didn't know about her and Meelo; she felt the true heaviness of her heart breaking then. Behind the wooden green dresser, the smell of damp wood and dust in her lungs, among the cobwebs and solitary spiders—she knew, being without Meelo hurt. Knowing that he was sick, possibly dying, hurt and knowing that she had hurt him killed her.

Aureole was over come by the resolve to find out exactly where Meelo was and go to him. Kudu, her flying bison, was healthy and she could fly over right this second if she felt like it…Aurie just had to find his location. With a mission in mind she settled into her confined space and waited for Wen to come back. Her body was on edge with anticipation.

As Wen entered her temporary room she laughed in delight and embraced each of her friends. Wen told them cheerily how she was about to write them a letter so she could join them, expressing how much she missed Meelo and that she thought of him often. Aureole rolled eyes and a jaded jealousy clouded her vision with green smoke—she hated that another girl knew how great Meelo was and wanted to take him away from her. But she also felt bad—if she hadn't been so stupid before…of she wasn't so afraid of her own feelings she could have expressed them to Meelo and then no one would be hurt. The blackest feeling lingered in her stomach—would he choose this girl over her?

"Get this, we're in the Southern Water tribe, in a coastal village five miles outside of the guarded capitol and Meelo, the genius, decided to stand in the freezing rain!" Ju said to Wen, whose face immediately became concerned,

"Oh dear, is he sick?" Ju and Hua looked at each other and then back at Wen, they had planned what they were going to say earlier.

"Yes," Hua said, "You should go to him."

"Yeah, make him forget all about that other girl and heal him, he'll be yours forever." Wen at least had the decency to blush,

"Oh my, I don't know,"

"_Yes you do," _Aureole thought hotly.

"Do you think he'd want to see me?" Ju and Hua assured her that of course Meelo would love to see her. She would be his angel.

"Should we leave tonight?" Wen said immediately after, in a voice that gave away her coy act. She had meant to go to him the second she heard he was weak and in need of Wen's healing hands.

"Of course," Ju said smiling, "Gotta let him squirm for one more day." And then they all laughed about how clever they were. Wen said that it was important to play hard to get. Aureole couldn't help but feel offended that they treated this like a game—Meelo was sick…how could they let him suffer? Her muscles were aching and after what seemed like an eternity the ladies finally decided to go out for a walk.

Aureole burst from her hiding spot the moment she knew she was alone. Her stomach growled for food but her adrenaline sent her running down several halls and then up seven flights of stairs into the room she shared with Lhe-mi and Dechan—who coincidentally had food with them. Aurie grabbed a handful of yellow berries and shoved them into her mouth. Dechan raised her eye brow and Lhe-mi laughed,

"That's an interesting way to eat."

"Yeah," Dechan said sarcastically, "If by interesting you mean gross." Her nose crinkled as Aurie gulped down water and bit into a hunk of bread,

"I do," Lhe-mi assured Dechan. After Aurie ate her fill and listened to Lhe-mi and Dechan talk about whatever silly things happened during their classes that morning, Aureole decided to trust them with her secret information. Both girls stared wide eyed at her while she recounted what she had heard the day before from Wen and the morning after from Wen, Ju, and Hua.

"I'm planning on leaving as soon as possible…before they can leave…but I need a little help." Both girls gushed about how romantic this was and said they would do anything to help along the course of true love. Aurie rolled her eyes and then looked at them hesitantly,

"If I want to get there before them then…they can't leave tonight." She pursed her lips in worry and then looked down to see mischievous grins lighting up her sister's faces.

"We can do that." Lhe-mi said gleefully and Aureole crossed her arms in trepidation. She figured they would need to plan it together and create a flawless strategy; she had assumed they would need her help also.

"How?" She asked doubtfully.

"Don't worry about it." Dechan said with a no nonsense expression on her face and a twinkle in her eyes.

"But—" Aureole started,

"Don't," Dechan interrupted, "Worry about it." Aurie slowly nodded her head in agreement…if they didn't want her to worry about it then she guessed she…shouldn't?

"Do the elder nuns know where you're going?" Lhe-mi asked.

"I'm old enough to go places on my own," They both gave her a look and Aurie pouted, "I'm going to leave a note. Only "find" it if someone asks where I am. Got it?"

"Got it!" they said simultaneously. Aureole put her plan into action. She took several articles of clothing and especially all of the warm clothing she could find. There were special velvet lined boots and heavy cloaks that Air Nomads wore in place of fur from animals. The cloak was red and the boots were a light shade of brown—the rest of her clothing was pleasantly colored in shades of rich oranges and soft yellows. She kept the bracelet Meelo gave her tight around her wrist—she hadn't ever taken it off.

When she went to the stables to get Kudu prepared she saw a saddle already placed upon her with food supplies, a map, and emergency Water Tribe coins in case she ran into any trouble. She smiled as she led Kudu by her reins to the edge of the plat form. Looking out into the early afternoon she saw a tropical green forest—twisting and moving and living, beautiful and harsh. The wind gently swayed the mass of trees back and forth. She could smell the sea in the air and as she climbed onto her animal companion she felt no fear. She was going to Meelo and where he was she felt she belonged.

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Brace yourselves for a time skip coming soon...


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry this took so long (finals, life, blah) in next chapter time will have skipped. Five years, I'm thinking. I'm not really a fan of glorifying teen pregnancy or anything so I'm trying to make Aurie and Meelo be adults by the time they have Aang. Annny way, review/follow/do whatever you want. Enjoy this chapter~

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There was a blizzard blowing in when Aurie landed in the little Water Tribe village. Her bison and bright clothing starkly contrasted with the white and gray landscape. Everyone seemed to be gathering inside of their respective fur-lined homes, the warm glow of the fire through the fabric made each hut look like a little lantern. Aureole's skin was turning a color similar the deep blue of the sky and the snow that landed on her eyes lashed turned into ice. She had never been so cold in her life and was regretting leaving the Air Temple so unprepared.

"What is your business here child?" An older woman approached her. Her skin looked soft and warm like sand, the wrinkles on her face came from a life full of worry, and her eyes were a hard steely blue.

"I'm looking for a Monk named Meelo," Aureole's voice was muffled by the wind and snow, "He would have come with a small party, and he is an air bender with tattoos…tall…" Aurie was running out of things to say and was noticeably shivering. "I have money," Aurie continued showing the coins in her palm, "I—um—if you could point me to a place could spend the night with an animal tent for my bison, please?"

"My name is Kata, you may follow me." She began walking to a large round tent with wind chimes made from small animal bones and sea shells that swayed vigorously in the forceful wind. "I am the medicine priestess," She began once they got inside after dropping Kudu off in another hut were the village kept their domestic animals, Aureole had already introduced herself , "Your friend attended our festival and got quite ill from staying out in the cold—he is not the brightest firefly in the bunch is he?"

Aurie frowned a little, "He just gets lost in thought." It made her nervous to be so close to Meelo because she didn't even know if he wanted anything to do with her anymore. Maybe Meelo decided to be in love with charming, graceful, uncomfortably beautiful Wen…she felt her beat faster with dread. Kata was making a small bed for Aurie out of furs, since their didn't seem to be any non-animal alternatives for warmth Aureole decided to make no objection to this.

"Is he…is he going to be alright?" Aureole asked uneasily after a few minutes of busy silence. Kata smile warmly and her face wrinkled,

"He is recovering nicely, and is very eager to move around. But, I am afraid that until his cough is fully gone he cannot be out in the cold. He could die if he gets to cold."

"When can I see him?" Aureole finally asked. Her hands were clammy and she felt anxious…she had come all of this way for him…she'd never need so spontaneous in her life.

"Are you his wife?" Kata asked pleasantly. Aurie's heart dropped…was she not allowed to see him if she wasn't family? She knew that in the air temples only women were aloud in the women's sick wing unless the Monk was blood related or a doctor.

"Yes," She blurted out, her mind was running at a million miles per minute.

"I did not know Monk Meelo was married…" Kata said with an interest in her eyes. Aureole did the only thing that came to mind—lying.

"I have been—busy at the temple finishing a few of my exams but I know how much Meelo loves to travel. I can't stand seeing him unhappy." At least the last part was true.

"He talks so much I can't believe he has never mentioned you—and you're so very young." All Aurie wanted to do was tell Kata to stop blowing holes in her story but she forced out a laugh,

"Well, haha, it was all very recently. You know love, it makes you wanna marry people. There wasn't even really a ceremony—we just, um, decided to be married." Oh god, the story was falling apart, Aurie needed to stop tangling herself further in her web of poor thought out lies.

"Is that how it works amongst the Air Nomads?" Kata asked pleasantly.

"Sometimes," Aurie said honestly, "Other times there is a ceremony held with some close friends and blood-family if either person is in contact with their blood-family. But other times people decided to be married and then they are." Aurie shrugged her shoulders and smiled. Kata smiled back and added more drift wood to the fire,

"He is sleeping right now; I trust you will not want to wake your husband," Aureole assured her she did not, "I will tell him you are here in the morning, hopefully the blizzard will have settled by then." With that Kata left the tent and Aureole's face went red with the embarrassing conversation she knew would happen the next morning. She was not cold when she went to sleep…but she felt very alone.

* * *

When Meelo woke up the next morning he was relieved to see the sunlight filtering in through the smoke hole at the top of the hut. He had been stuck in this tent for what seemed like an eternity. The alleviate some of the expenses Meelo knew he was causing for the medicine woman, Kata, Nawang had been delivering good between this village and the little open market that was held about 20 miles North from the ocean side town. Nawang had been gone for a few days now and Meelo was hoping that upon his return Kata would say he was well enough to go back home to the Western Air Temple.

It's not that Meelo didn't appreciate the care he was receiving there but…he really wanted to go home. He missed air bending and the wind in his face. He missed fruit pies and meatless food that wasn't seaweed or the rubbery vegetable soup he ate three times a day. And dammit—he missed Aurie. Meelo had decided to go to the Eastern Air Temple and give her a piece of his mind and possibly his heart. But he wanted a piece of her heart to—he was never going to approach a relationship in the all or nothing attitude he did with Aurie.

He turned her into a fantasy. The lingering stares her thought were full of mystery and poetry were really just bored moments with dull outcomes. The way she walked was like every other person walked—not like a goddess or fairy. She wasn't a mermaid—she didn't lure men into an ocean and drown them, Meelo drowned himself. And with his new found view of Aureole, Meelo c can still tell you one thing that was a constant—he loved her. And even now, when he was upset with her he loved her and if she came through the flaps of the tent right now he would swear he had died from that sickness and was now on a dream-like spirit plane.

Meelo sighed and sat up when he hear Kata shuffle inside of the tent with a hot bowl of the nasty soup and a pleasant smile of her glowing face,

"You have a visitor, Monk Meelo." She said cheerily has Meelo are his breakfast and smiled brightly back at her,

"Is Nawang back?" He asked, taking another large bit of food.

"No, it is your wife." He nearly choked on his food, Kata looked up at him alarmed, "You do have a wife…don't you?"

_"Not that I know of," _Meelo thought internally but now he was interested…who is claiming to be his wife? "Yeah….yes, yes I do have a wife." Kata raised one eye brow a pursed her lips, blinking her dark blue eyes,

"You never mentioned having a wife, Monk Meelo. I am surprised she did not come here sooner to take care of you."

"Yeah, me too. When is she coming into see me?" Kata was in the corner mixing medicine powders and pouring hot salt water into a cup, it smelled bitter.

"Very soon, I let her bathe first. A wife must be presentable for her husband." She then turned with a lecturing look on her face, "She looks very young, are you two even properly wed? Or is this another free love whimsical tradition you young air nomads have come up with?" Meelo laughed whole heartedly then,

"I guess we aren't 'properly married.' _I don't even know who she is._" The last part he kept to himself. Maybe it was Wen…that girl was creepy—all pretty and charming…and obsessive. At least she was nice. But she shouldn't go around telling people that Meelo was her husband. That was weird.

It was half an hour later when Meelo heard Kata returning with an extra pair of footsteps following her's and he caught the end of the conversation,

"…we will have to have you properly married; I can make all of the arrangements."

"No," Said a panicking familiar voice, "You don't have to—"

"Nonsense," Kata cut her off, "It will be my pleasure. Here we are," Kata opened the tent and the sunshine brightly came in turning the entering women into black silhouettes.

"Your husband is looking much better than he did a few weeks ago." Meelo stared at her like she had fallen out of a painting and Aureole looked relieved. Her heart felt like whatever was squeezing it painfully had subsided and she felt herself smiling. Kata frowned in confusion,

"Well, say hello to your wife," She demanded Meelo. He sat up and kept his voice even,

"Hello, wife." Aurie's smile grew and she felt like giggling, Kata looked at Aureole,

"Say hello to your husband," She snapped. Aureole turned red and shyly glanced over to Meelo again,

"Hello, husband." She thought he would be mad to see her. The Meelo would turn away from her but this….whatever was happening was not what she expected.

"Now," Kata said in a lecturing tone, "Since the pair of you are not properly married I feel conflicted leaving this tent with the two of you alone." She narrowed her eyes and made Aureole feel like she was going to be sent to her room. "But, because I am generous and kind I will leave you to your reunion but I will be back. Shortly. I having a small ceremony to prepare."

Meelo saw Kata leave the room and the next thing he knew his Arms were full with Aureole. He held her to his chest,

"When did we get married?" He saw her blush prettily and rub her forehead,

"Last night when Kata asked me if I was your wife…" Meelo smiled and raised a dark eyebrow,

"And you said yes?" He laughed as her face became ever redder and she shot him a pleading look,

"I panicked!" she squeaked. "And I think Kata is seriously planning a wedding. She doesn't take no for an answer."

"I know the feeling." There was a pause, "Why did you come see me?"

"I love you." Aurie looked at him in the most serious way. Her eyes were clear and her brow was smooth. Aureole wanted him to be hers… she only realized this when saw proof of Meelo slipping away from her.

"Good," Meelo laughed whole heartedly, "Jeeze, you just saved me a lot of work," He was laughing again as Aureole rolled her eyes and he bent his head down to kiss her. She melted in to his embrace and before Aureole could think, her skin felt like it was enveloped in a hot breeze and she and Meelo's bodies became an excited tangle of falling robes and breathy moans.

Kata walked in on an indecent scene of Aurie straddling a shirtless Meelo with just her small red clothes covering her breasts. Feeling the cold air rush into the tent Meelo and Aureole turned bright red and Aurie stammered for something to say. Her natural grace of course opted for something…ridiculous. She slapped, lightly, Meelo and gave him a stern look,

"Umm, not before the wedding." She scrambled off of him and grabbed her top robes listening to Kata scold them,

"Not even married and the Moon Goddess knows what you two have done in private! Well, not in this village." She looked to Meelo, "Now, I like you young man and I like your woman, so I've put together a ceremony,"

"You what—?!" Meelo and Aureole said simultaneously with horrified expressions. Kata ignored the outburst,

"It was no problem really. You should be better my now, Monk. I'd say you'll be ready to leave within the next few nights. So we'll hold a ceremony tonight, a new moon is the perfect night for a wedding, and your friend will be back tomorrow and you will take your leave." Kata continued to talk to herself as she left the round medicine tent making a list of preparations for a nighttime wedding.

"Hey," Meelo said touching his hand to Aureole's ; he looked longingly into her dark grey eyes and smiled sweetly, "Do you wanna go penguin sledding?"

Aureole raised her eye brows, "Do I want to what?" Meelo lifted out of bed in a burst of air and his grinning wildly,

"Penguin sledding, it's the best, I've been cooped up here for daaays. Let's do something, go somewhere, see something…"

"Don't we have another pressing matter that requires our attention..?" Aurie offered frowning. Meelo looked back and quirked an eyebrow,

"What problem?" A quick glare from Aurie triggered his brain, "Oh, well, that. Huh, hey Aurie, wanna get married?" He asked as he slipped his boots on. Aureole laid on the floor and sighed thoughtfully,

"Why not?" Meelo laughed and Aurie smiled. There was a moment of happiness, it was quiet and it was pleasant and it was so perfectly content. Which was why Kata barging in and grabbing Aureole by the arm made Meelo yelp like a girl (or maybe not because he's kind of feminine in general). Aureole was then shoved into a larger animal hide tent that had dried flowers hanging from the wood of the entrance and smelled faintly of an oil perfume.

There were other women in the room, most of them younger than Kata and a few older than Aureole, they quickly began unbraiding her hair and untying her robes and before she had the moment to object she found herself being pushed into a wooden tub filled with hot water,

"Ahh," Aureole whined as her hair was combed and scrubbed. "What's going on Kata?" She said bewildered.

"We are preparing you for the ceremony, and keeping you away from that perverted Monk. Until he is officially your husband you shall not be alone with him."

"Do you really want to organize a wedding for us? Isn't that a lot of trouble?" Aureole asked sincerely. She didn't want to impose and the sooner she was fully clothed again—the better.

"Nonsense," Kata waved off her concerns, " Our village loves any excuse to drink too much wine and eat too much food with new friends." All the women laughed and as soon as Aurie was dried she was put into a soft blue robe and ushered over to a circle of women who began drying her hair.

"Oh," Aurie smiled, "That isn't necessary," She quickly used her bending to dry her hair and got water on the girls around her, on accident of course. They only laughed and began weaving Aureole's hair into an intricate knot of braids and loops with beads and small sea shells decorating her dark copper hair. The tiny shells shone delicately with a mother of pearl sheen and the beads were painted blue and white, traditional Water Tribe colors.

The clothing Kata gathered for her wedding ensemble were parts of her own dress years ago, not having any children of her own she said this might be her last time to have her dress be of use. It was dark and light blue layered over each other; the dark blue top clung tightly to her chest and looked lovely over the light blue under robe that gracefully fell to the floor. There were swirls embroidered on the blue fabric to mimic water but Aureole felt that they more closely resembled air.

The darkened her eyelashes with soot from a dead fire and used berries to tint her full lips red. The result was stunning and Aureole thanked them all over and over again…although she felt so heavy in all of the clothing and hair accessories—she could not wait to return to her soft yellow and orange robes.

The night time was approaching quickly and Aureole was becoming restless. There would be a festival and then a ceremony once the full moon was high in the sky. Soon enough though she found herself next to Meelo at a table filled with steaming hot foods and cups of bitter winter wines; she discovered also that she was slightly drunk,

"You're so pretty," A voice managed to stutter out with sloppy smiling lips,

"Thanks Aurie, you're not bad looking yourself," Meelo smiled at her hazy grey eyes—she was so nice after she'd been drinking.

"No—no, _you_ are like a marble statue because…because you are so pretty." Meelo laughed uncomfortably and switched Aureole's wine cup with water. She cheeks were flushed pink and her lips were the prettiest color of red right then. He wondered if they'd taste like wine…

The glow from the candelabras made the setting look so dreamy and Aurie felt like she was floating. She wished that she and Meelo could go fly around for a while…but she'd hate to mess up Lady Kata's pretty dress.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Meelo asked seriously and if she was a bit more sober she would've gently reassured him but at the moment all she could think to say was,

"Yes, I wanna—I wanna have your babies." She smiled at him so happily he wondered how long she'd actually wanted to say that,

"Nun Aurie, have you been having dirty dreams of us making babies?" He teased with a smug grin on his face,

"Yes," Her voice was lower and her eyes shone darker. "Haven't you?" She seemed so serious he questioned whether she was really drunk or not.

"Yeah," Meelo answered honestly, "All of the time."

"I can't wait for tonight." Aurie said softly.

"Neither can I."

"I've never done…that…this before."

"I know. Don't worry."

"I'm not," She blinked and few times…when she looked at him for too long she felt like she was staring at the sun—it was too bright and made her eyes hurt…but she couldn't stop looking.

"I love you." He said, Meelo had never felt so concrete about anything in his life—he really, truly, dearly, loved her.

"What is going on here?" Meelo looked up to see a very confused Nawang, "What is she doing here? What the hell happened—I was gone for three days!" He sounded exasperated. Luckily everyone was so caught up in the festivities no one paid much attention the conversation that followed.

"Oh, hey Nawang! How was your trip?" Meelo smiled pleasantly. Nawang's eyes narrowed a fraction,

"It was fine. What is going on?" He kept looking to Aureole who seemed to be content to look back and smile stupidly.

"I'm getting married." He put his arm around the little Air Nomad's shoulders and she leaned into him grinning ear to ear.

"Yup, I love this girl right here and Lady Kata decided to through us a wedding because our hippy dippy union doesn't count." At this point Nawang was rubbing his forehead.

"What the hell are you even talking about, Meelo?" To say Nawang was angry was an overstatement but he was extremely annoyed. When he left Meelo said he was never going to see that "succubus" again and now—three days later—he's going to marry her?

Sounds like something Meelo would do.

"You know what?" He sighed, "I'm not going to get mad. Do whatever you want. I want to get wasted." And with that he sat beside his good friend and took Meelo's wine cup.

"Awesome," Meelo smiled, "I want you to be there when I make a life commitment to the most beautiful woman in the world." Nawang looked over to see Aureole showing a parlor trick to a few people beside her, spinning round berries in a loop of air between her hands.

"Yeah, she's a real keeper." Meelo was making shapes in his food, "You two really deserve one another." The Moon was slowly rising into the deep blue canvas of the sky and there were green polar lights hanging beautifully amongst the stars like bright paper lanterns. There were drums beating and wooden flutes making fairy music, filling the air with magic.

Meelo had been honored with traditional groom body paintings decorating his arms and Aureole had a matching color of paint that swirled from around her cheeks to a peek between her eye brows. When the drumming stopped a priestess with long blue robes and a friendly smile ushered Meelo and Aurie in a shallow pool of water. She had red paint intricately covering her entire face and most of her arms. They would later learn these were tattoos that all priestess that served under the Moon Goddess shared.

The water only came to slightly above Aureole's ankles and the dress floated out around her—the moon's reflection was directly on top of the cool water and Meelo and Aurie were lead into the middle. They held onto each other, grasping at the hands. The ceremony began with the Priestess burning sage and blessing the couple with the smoke with the ceremonial beating of an animal skin drum.

Meelo and Aurie were instructed to sing foreign words to one another and each time there sentences ended they were blessed with the ringing of a silver bell,

"May Hina bless you union and may you be blessed with many children who live long lives and do great things." The cold air smelled of the burn sage and wood, a ceremonial drink was mixed together and Meelo and Aurie were to drink and pledge there love to one another, they were each to swear their blood to the other,

"I swear to honor and protect you, for your blood is now my blood and my blood is now yours." Although they were honored to be united by Water Tribe law, Aureole and Meelo at that moment had both made a conscious decision to honor the values of their own culture. Love without animosity, follow freedom, and if their love should die—let go of it.

At the end of the night they were escorted to a tent and their marriage bed was blessed. Nawang was drunk and offered vulgar tips to Meelo before he stumbled after a pretty girl. And the next morning when Nawang's sisters barged in on the naked couple tangled in a sleeping embrace neither had the patience nor the desire to explain themselves.

They didn't need to.


End file.
